TREASURY

Alexandra House

Robert Key: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the Inland Revenue office at Alexandra House, Salisbury, when the lease on the building is terminated; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue are minor occupier to the Department for Constitutional Affairs. As major occupiers the Department for Constitutional Affairs have served notice to the Inland Revenue to vacate the property at the end of March 2006—this is in line with the terms of their legal agreement.
	All possible options for relocation are being explored—as yet no decisions have been made.

Child-rearing Costs

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate the Government have made of the cost of raising a child to the age of 18 at 2003–04 prices.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government have not estimated the cost of raising a child. Since 1997 the Government have radically reformed the way they provide support to families with children, driven by two principal objectives:
	to support all families with children, recognising that families with children face additional costs; and
	to deliver progress on its goal to eradicate child poverty, by offering greatest support to those most in need, while maintaining incentives to work.
	From April 2005, this new system of financial support for families will deliver, through child benefit and child tax credit, a range of support from £17.00 to around £60a week, compared to a range of £11.05 and £28 a week in 1997.

Corporation Tax (Greater London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many businesses in the Greater London area have benefited from lower rates of corporation tax.

Dawn Primarolo: Nationally nearly 600,000 companies have a corporation tax liability each year. All will benefit from the cuts in the main, small and starting companies' rates of corporation tax that have been introduced in recent years. However, it is not possible to identify precisely those businesses that trade in specific areas such as Greater London.

Correspondence

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when the Paymaster General will respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey, dated 1 December 2004 on City Academies and VAT; and what the reasons are for the delay.

Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.

Disadvantaged Area Relief

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the reasons for the rise in the cost of disadvantaged area relief from 2003–04 to 2004–05; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The published cost of Disadvantaged Areas Relief (DAR) is an estimate of the amount of relief claimed by taxpayers. It includes the likely effect of substitution of DAR for other Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) reliefs (such as Group Relief) and the claiming of DAR for transactions undertaken in earlier years.

Football Supporters Trusts

Bob Russell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made by the Inland Revenue in its discussions with Supporters Direct to provide guidance and dedicated support for Football Supporters' Trusts to set up charities or community amateur sports clubs to run their community activities, and to help them take advantage of the range of tax reliefs available to such bodies; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The Inland Revenue has developed a draft package of guidance and support for Football Supporters Trusts. They have approached Supporters Direct and discussed this package and other issues with them, following up action points as well as agreeing to facilitate contact between Supporters Direct and the Charity Commission. The Revenue will continue to work closely with Supporters Direct to deliver the right support, in the right way, for Football Supporters' Trusts.

Housing

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individual dwellings there are in Southend-on-Sea; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: As at 27 January 2005, there were 76,147 domestic dwellings in the Southend-on-Sea Billing Authority that have a council tax band placed upon them.

Private Finance Initiative

Mark Fisher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the amount of public funding required to finance private public partnership schemes (a) in each of the past seven years and (b) which are repayable in each of the next 15 years.

Paul Boateng: Estimated payments under PFI contracts in each of the past seven years and the next 15 years is publicly available information. This data can be found in previous Budget publications (available online at www.hm- treasury.gov.uk) and in my written minsterial statement of 2 December 2004, Official Report, column 43–4WS.

Private Finance Initiative

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will commission a study into the viability of an excess profits levy on the profits made by banks, financiers and contractors on private finance initiative and public private partnership contracts.

Paul Boateng: The Government are committed to achieving value for money from its PFI programme and keeps all aspects of the programme under review to ensure that this objective is being met. The Government have made clear that PFI should only be used where it is the appropriate to do so and where a full value for money analysis shows that it offers the best value for money in comparison with alternative procurement routes. This value for money analysis and robust competition in the bidding process, both of which were highlighted as key factors in the decision to use PFI in the value for money guidance issued by the Treasury last summer, ensure that the public sector pays a fair price for the services it receives from PFI projects and for the risks which the private sector bears.
	There are no plans to commission a study into the viability of a special or additional levy on PFI and PPP contracts.

Public Sector Pensions

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the report by the Government Actuary's Department on the long-term cost of public sector pensions referred to on page 43, Box 4.2 of the long-term public finance report of December 2004.

Stephen Timms: This report will be placed in the Library by 22 February, together with a commentary which will explain the assumptions and techniques employed in compiling the report.

Taskforces

John Bercow: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequerhow much has been spent by his Department in each year since 1997 on taskforces and similar bodies.

Stephen Timms: The costs are set out in the table.
	
		£000
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Private Finance Taskforce (also referred to as the  Treasury Taskforce) — 637 1,825 1,825 1,730 — — — 
			 Partnerships UK: revenue costs — — — 1,000 8,091 920 1,365 3,399 
			 Partnerships UK: capital costs — — — — 20,050 — — — 
			 Financial Action Taskforce — 2 44 30 — 34 — 25 
			 Equitable Life Inquiry — — — — — 72 1,139 277 
			 Diana Memorial Committee — — 33 — — — — — 
		
	
	The Partnerships UK capital costs are the costs of the Treasury's holdings of £4.45 million of ordinary shares and £15.6 million of 6 per cent. loan stock.
	The table excludes costs of the taskforces on Credit Unions, Modern Apprenticeships and Social Investment, which are not separately recorded.

Tax Credits

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are claiming working tax credit in each constituency in Northern Ireland.

Dawn Primarolo: Estimates of the number of in-work families receiving tax credits in each constituency in Northern Ireland appear in Child and Working Tax Credit Statistics. Geographical analyses. December 2004". This can be found on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/menu.htm. The estimates are based on a sample of cases, and are subject to sampling uncertainty.

Tax Returns

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many taxpayers in Northern Ireland failed to meet the 31 January 2004 deadline for return of Inland Revenue tax returns.

Dawn Primarolo: Information broken down by regions is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Nationally 8,581,000 returns were received by the filing deadline out of an expected 9,474,000. This represents 90.6 per cent.

VAT (Schools and Colleges)

David Lidington: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will equalise the rates of value added tax paid by colleges of further education with the rates paid by schools.

Dawn Primarolo: The rate of VAT on goods and services bought by schools and Further Education Colleges (FECs) is generally the same. However, FECs can in certain circumstances benefit from the zero rate for the construction of new buildings.
	VAT incurred by FECs and schools is included in the funding they receive from central Government. In the case of FECs this is through their block grant funding, in the case of schools it is through the local government VAT funding mechanism.
	There are no plans to change the VAT treatment of schools and FECs.

TRANSPORT

Railway Stations

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many railway stations have (a) opened and (b) been re-opened since 1 May 1997.

Charlotte Atkins: Since 1 May 1997 12 new stations have opened and 16 stations have re-opened.

Road Building (Essex)

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on proposed new major road building in Essex.

David Jamieson: We have recently announced the programme of major transport schemes which we propose to take forward in the East of England, including schemes on both the strategic and local road networks. A number of these schemes will benefit Essex.

Nottingham Express Transit

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the development of the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) in Greater Nottingham.

Charlotte Atkins: The Department has received a bid for the extensions and is working closely with the scheme's promoters on the procurement and financing aspects. Once the Department has considered fully all of the necessary information a decision on whether to provide approval in principle for the extensions will be made based on value for money, the wider benefits and affordability.

M6

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has for increasing the capacityof the M6 motorway between junctions 11 and20.

David Jamieson: I launched a public consultation in July 2004 on an Expressway concept as an alternative to widening the M6 between junction 11a and 19. This consultation closed on 21 October. The responses are currently being analysed. When this is complete I will publish my response.

Midland Mainline

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to improve rail services on the Midland Mainline route.

Charlotte Atkins: The Midland Main Line/East Midlands Route Utilisation Strategy recently published by the Strategic Rail Authority will be used to inform the Invitations to Tender for the new Thameslink/GN and Midland Mainline franchise. Bids for the franchises will be require commitments on performance, train and crew reliability and operational viability.

Gatwick Express

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact the Strategic Rail Authority's proposals for the Gatwick Express will have on airport users.

Charlotte Atkins: The Strategic Rail Authority has considered the impacts on Gatwick airport users while developing the proposals in the Draft Brighton Mainline Route Utilisation Strategy. Representations from consultees on the subject of airport users will be taken into account while the Strategy is finalised.

Traffic Commissioners

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the role of the Traffic Commissioners and their accountability to local councils.

Charlotte Atkins: Traffic Commissioners are responsible for licensing operators of heavy goods vehicles and public service vehicles. They act in a quasi judicial capacity and are independent of central and local government. Local authorities have the right to object to applications for a licence.

Civil Aviation Authority

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much the Civil Aviation Authority has spent on defending legal actions against it from employees in each of the last five years.

Charlotte Atkins: The Civil Aviation Authority's costs in the last five years are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2000 6,375 
			 2001 7,305 
			 2002 8,303 
			 2003 117,901 
			 2004 13,740

Civil Aviation Authority

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons personal files held by the Civil Aviation Authority on its staff are not regarded as filing systems within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998.

Charlotte Atkins: Personal files held by the CAA on its staff are paper files containing various material, including sickness absence forms, pay review letters and correspondence with the Human Resources Department. The personal files relating to each employee are stored in reverse chronological order.
	The personal files are not regarded as filing systems within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act") because they do not fulfil the requirements of being a relevant filing system" as defined in Section 1(1) of the Act. This definition is as follows:
	any set of information relating to individuals to the extent that, although the information is not processed by means of equipment operating automatically in response to instructions given for that purpose, the set is structured, either by reference to individuals or by reference to criteria relating to individuals, in such a way that specific information relating to a particular individual is readily accessible."
	A searcher would be required to leaf through the documents in a personal file in reverse chronological order to find any particular information. Accordingly the personal files cannot be regarded as a relevant filing system" within the meaning of the Act.
	The Information Commissioner has agreed with the CAA's view.

Mobile Phones

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research the Government had carried out on (a) the extent of and (b) the safety implications of the use of mobile telephones by cyclists while cycling.

David Jamieson: We are not aware of evidence specifically on cyclists and the safety of using mobile phones. But the Highway Code already tells cyclists to keep both hands on the handlebars except when signalling or changing gear. The police have powers under sections 28 and 29 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, as amended, to deal with cyclists they consider to be riding dangerously, or carelessly or inconsiderately, through using mobile phones or for any other reason.

Multi-modal Studies

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much has been spent by his Department on multi-modal studies since 1997;
	(2)  how many multi-modal studies have been commissioned since 1997; how many have been completed; and how many are still under way.

Alistair Darling: There were 33 multi-modal studies. 21 studies have been completed. On the final study, the A34 north from Southampton, we are currently considering the results of the scoping study before deciding what further work, if any, should be carried out. Since 1999–2000 financial year, the Department has spent approximately £33.5 million of expenditure relating to the Studies. No further such studies are planned.

Railways

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers travelled on the railways in each year since 1990.

Alistair Darling: The information requested can be found in Table 1.2 of the SRA publication, National Rail Trends, copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

Railways

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what powers he has to require rolling stock leasing companies to cut the charges which they impose for leases on railway rolling-stock; and if he will make a statement.

Charlotte Atkins: Rolling stock leases are between two private sector companies, the rolling stock company and the train operating company. However, as set out in the Railways White Paper, because the Government pays for much of their cost through its funding of the rail industry, it is important to ensure that they represent good value for the taxpayer. The Department for Transport's proposals to secure best value from rolling stock leases are set out in the Future of Rail White Paper.

Railways

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to establish a rail industry national archive; and if he will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: I have been asked to reply.
	The National Railway Museum (NRM), a museum sponsored by DCMS as part of the National Museum for Science and Industry, plans to establish Search Engine", a Railway Industry National Archive at NRM in York.

Railways

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of disposing of unwanted assets of the Strategic Rail Authority when it is abolished;
	(2)  what budget has been allocated for redundancy payments connected to the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority;
	(3)  what budget has been allocated to meet costs arising from the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority.

Alistair Darling: It is not possible to give precise estimates of transitional costs at this stage. They will be met from the existing budgets of DfT and the SRA. In the longer term, the new arrangements for rail are expected to cost less than the present ones.

Railways

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many staff he expects to transfer from the Strategic Rail Authority to DfT-Rail;
	(2)  how many jobs he expects will be lost when the Strategic Rail Authority is abolished.

Alistair Darling: At present about 430 people work in the SRA and about 100 in the Rail Directorates of DfT. We estimate that the new DfT Rail Group will have some 250 to 300 staff and that some 50 or so other posts for which SRA staff will be eligible may be created in other organisations. It is not possible to say how many staff will transfer from the SRA to DfT since the new posts in DfT will be open to staff of both the SRA and the DfT Rail Directorates. It is not possible to say how many jobs will be lost because there will be a degree of natural wastage.

Railways

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what redundancy packages will be offered to staff at the Strategic Rail Authority who lose their jobs because of its abolition.

Alistair Darling: Any SRA staff made redundant as a result of SRA abolition will be offered packages in accordance with their existing terms and conditions.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the Harbour Revision Order put forward by trust ports will be subject to public inquiry.

David Jamieson: Arrangements for any inquiries into these Orders will be announced in due course.

Trust Ports

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the Government's policy is on the payment of a levy to the Exchequer when a trust port is privatised voluntarily.

David Jamieson: No trust port has sought to submit a scheme for voluntary privatisation in the lifetime of the current administration. Should a scheme be submitted we would consider the level at which the levy should be set, in accordance with the Ports Act 1991, in the light of the circumstances of the case.

CABINET OFFICE

Policy Co-ordination

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchyof Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with the Deputy Prime Minister about policy co-ordination.

Alan Milburn: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay) on 1 February 2005, Official Report, column 709.

Policy Co-ordination

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with Lord Birt about policy co-ordination.

Alan Milburn: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr.Prisk) on 1 February 2005, Official Report, column 711.

Policy Co-ordination

Adrian Flook: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with the Deputy Prime Minister about policy co-ordination.

Alan Milburn: I refer the hon. Member to the response I gave the right hon. Member for Bracknell (Mr. Mackay) on 1 February 2005, Official Report, column 709.

Ministerial Functions

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what recent discussions he has had with the National Audit Office about the costs of separating his role from that of the Minister for the Cabinet Office.

Alan Milburn: None.

Fiona Gordon

Paul Marsden: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what the job description is of Fiona Gordon, an employee of his Department;
	(2)  what (a) salary, (b) pension rights and (c) other benefits Fiona Gordon claims from his Department.

David Miliband: Fiona Gordon is no longer employed as a special adviser.

Kirpan

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will remove restrictions on the wearing of the kirpan by Sikh employees and Sikh members of the public in Government buildings.

David Miliband: The Government are committed to promoting equality of opportunity and valuing diversity in the civil service, including recognising and respecting people's different religions or beliefs. Accordingly, there is no reason that Sikh civil servants or members of the public should not wear the Kirpan in government buildings, except in places where security policy dictates otherwise and similar items are also banned. In these cases, Departments will have arrangements in place for security storage where the Kirpan can be left during working hours.

Regulatory Impact Unit

Andrew Turner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the (a) staffing and (b) running costs of the Regulatory Impact Unit was in the last year for which figures are available.

David Miliband: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor (Ruth Kelly) gave to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) on 14 December 2004, Official Report, column 1004W.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Atlantic Biogeographical Region

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Atlantic Biogeographical Region; what factors determine inclusion in the list set out in 2004/813/EC, L 387 volume 47 of 29 December 2004; what the purpose is of the list; what obligations are placed on the Government relating to the list; what impact it will have on sites of special scientific interest; what impact it will have on the operations of HM armed forces in the Salisbury area; what additional obligations arise for the management of named sites; what additional powers listing confers for the preservation of named marine habitats; and if she will make a statement on the application of listing of marine habitats to the Common Fisheries Policy.

Ben Bradshaw: The UK welcomes the European Commission's (EC) decision of 8 December 2004 to adopt the Atlantic Biogeograpical Region List of Sites of Community Importance (SCIs) in accordance with article 4 of council directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (EC Habitats Directive). Sites are included on the basis that they meet the EC habitat directive's selection criteria (annex III of the directive) and are thus considered to be most in need of conservation at a European level. The list is required to enable member states to progress with the designation of these sites as special areas of conservation (SACs) and obliges them to implement appropriate conservation measures to manage and protect these areas if they have not already done so.
	The adoption of SCIs and anticipated designation of SACs in England does not impose any additional obligations on the Government, competent authorities, landowners, fishery interests, HM armed forces or other stakeholders because the sites have, following amendments in February 2000, been subject to full legal protection under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994.

Canada (BSE)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with the Canadian Government on the recent BSE case discovered there.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 31 January 2005
	The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) has had a number of technical discussions with the Canadian authorities but not specifically relating to the recent BSE case.

Commission Veterinary Experts

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the application in the UK of Commission Decision 2005/13/EC, OJ L6 volume 48 of 8 January, with particular reference to (a) the UK border, (b) the status of Commission veterinary experts, (c) the cost of each expert and (d) the number of experts.

Ben Bradshaw: European Community import rules require all products of animal origin imported from third countries to enter the Community via specified border inspection posts (BIPs) where they are subject to veterinary examination to ensure the import conditions are being observed. The system of veterinary examination is operated in the UK by local authorities and is monitored by Defra and the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) to ensure effective controls are in place. There are currently 29 BIPs approved to inspect animal products in the UK.
	Commission Decision 2001/881 required that each BIP listed be subject to a yearly inspection by the FVO veterinary experts, unless reduced inspections to certain BIPs had been agreed by the Standing Veterinary Committee (now the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health).
	Commission Decision 2005/13 amended Commission Decision 2001/881 and specifies that the frequency and scope of missions by the FVO to border inspection posts should be decided on the basis of risks to the animal and public health in the Community. Factors to be taken into account include patterns of trade in the Community, statistical data available under veterinary legislation, the results of previous missions by the Office, and any identified problem areas. The UK supports this approach.
	Veterinary experts of the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) work to assure effective control systems and to evaluate compliance with European Union (EU) standards. The FVO does this mainly by carrying out inspections in member states. The veterinary inspectors employed by the FVO must have a degree or equivalent diploma and have a minimum of three years relevant experience.
	We have no information on the cost of these experts as the costs of the inspection missions are met from EU central funds.
	The number of staff working in the FVO has increased from 74 in 1997 to its present complement of 163. Of these, 81 are plant health and veterinary inspectors, who participate regularly in on-the-spot inspection missions.

Departmental Entertainment Costs

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much has been spent on entertainment by her Department in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation.

Alun Michael: On each occasion Defra officials are required to consider carefully what form and extent of hospitality should be offered and if it can be justified. This is considered both by the host and the authorising officer, who have to bear in mind the need for economy and the limited funds available.
	This will take into account the extent to which participation by representatives from a variety of organisations including business, voluntary organisations and local government assists the Department in forming and testing out policy as well as distances involved and inconvenience to most taking part.
	The figures detailed in the following table includes a variety of forms of hospitality including events such as lunch provided for participants at Defra consultative events on farming issues, environmental issues and others of the many issues dealt with by the Department.
	Examples include the event at which the Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy was launched and a new delivery team headed by Sir Don Curry was set up.
	The figure for 2001–02 provided is for a full year and includes three months of DETR expenditure from 1 April to 8 June when Defra was created. MAFF and DETR did not use the same chart of accounts to record expenditure. It was, therefore, necessary to carry out a mapping exercise to match up expenditure under the Defra structure.
	Hospitality was not separately identified in the expenditure transfer from DETR and may have been absorbed in incidental codes. For the remainder of that year only £1,953 was recorded against Environment. This would suggest that there may have been some misunderstanding on coding within the ex-DETR directorates during the transition and initial months of Defra's existence.
	The other factor that may have had an impact on the figures for 2001–02 was the foot and mouth crisis. The Department was very focused on dealing with this crisis and this would have reduced the number of events held where hospitality expenditure would have been incurred.
	
		Hospitality costs 2001–04 (£)
		
			  Food Alcohol Staff Accommodation Other Total 
		
		
			 2001–02 59,514 877 33,194 11,055 29,423 134,063 
			 2002–03 156,059 1,905 93,073 23,106 81,870 356,013 
			 2003–04 111,579 1,087 146,140 15,777 16,577 291,160

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Department spent on lawyers in each year since 1997; how many (a) actions, (b) settlements and (c) court cases there were in each year; and what the costs were of each settlement.

Alun Michael: The following reply is based on the assumption that this question is seeking information about amounts spent in relation to civil litigation.
	Defra conducts the majority of its litigation in house with other cases being dealt with on its behalf by the Treasury Solicitor's Department and by external solicitors. Defra came into existence in June 2001 and therefore has no records prior to that date. Defra's centralised records since that date relating to the information requested show only the number of new files it has handled in each year. The information indicates the number of new files opened in each year is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1991–92 449 
			 1992–93 359 
			 1993–94 283 
			 1994–95 165 
		
	
	This will usually correspond to the number of new actions/cases but not necessarily so. The number will include arbitrations and other ADR resolution and also claims which were resolved prior to the issue of proceedings and did not in the event proceed to court. Information about the number of actions is therefore approximate. Defra does not hold information in a centralised readily accessible format as to the number of settlements, number of court cases and the costs of each settlement, because collectively such information would involve disproportionate effort and it is not clear that it would help performance.
	Treasury Solicitors have records for the number of files for matters concerning Defra on which they have worked in any one year and the total sums billed to Defra including disbursements. The figures for the number of matters do not represent new cases or even new files because it is only matters on which work has been done and so some new cases will be worked on in the following (and possibly subsequent) years. The figures are as follows:
	
		
			  Number £ 
		
		
			 2001–02 74 779,074.11 
			 2002–03 57 606,608.30 
			 2003–04 56 440,277.52 
			 2004–05 40 64,097.21 
		
	
	Treasury Solicitors do not hold in centralised and readily accessible form information about the number of court cases and the costs of each settlement. To obtain this information would involve disproportionate effort.
	Defra retains external solicitors to provide some litigation services. The same caveats as above apply in relation to the number of matters they have acted upon.
	Firm 1:
	The total number of matters they have acted upon for Defra for each year is:
	
		
			  Number of matters 
		
		
			 2001–02 175 
			 2003 71 
			 2004 28 
		
	
	The total legal fees paid to them for the period from 2002 to end September 2004 is: fees £4,252,987.50, disbursements £558,981.54, and VAT of £837,543.42 totalling £5,649,512.46.
	Firm 2:
	This firm has handled 23 matters for the Department since 2001. Its total fees as at December 2004 including disbursements and VAT amount to £2,043,309.
	Firm 3:
	This firm has handled seven matters for the Department since 2001. Its total fees to date amount to £1,029,341 plus disbursements of £48,752.67 and VAT of £188,491.36.
	We do not hold centralised and readily accessible information about the number of court cases and the costs of each settlement in relation to the matters handled by the external solicitors. To obtain this information would involve disproportionate effort.

Fisheries

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received about the effect of the recent proposal of the European Commission on cod stocks in the North sea; what expert advice she has received on the matter; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 25 January 2005
	The Commission published on 8 December 2004 its proposals for a regulation on total allowable catches and related measures for fishing in 2005. In relation to North sea cod, these proposals included maintaining the total allowable catch at the same level as 2004, a further strengthening of the days at sea rules and a series of closed areas in the North sea. fisheries Departments received numerous representations on the Commission's proposals from fishing interests, environmental organisations and others. The recently established North Sea Regional Advisory Council produced advice for the Fisheries Council on the proposal. The Government was also informed by advice from its fisheries scientists. At the Fisheries Council on 21–22 December 2004, the Commission withdrew its proposals for closed areas but secured agreement to a strengthening of the days at sea regime. The total allowable catch of North sea cod for 2005—which had been agreed in discussions between the EU and Norway—was confirmed at 27,300 tonnes, the same level as in 2004.

Foot and Mouth

Tim Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what outbreaks of the Foot and Mouth virus have been identified by the Government as a possible common origin for the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in the UK in February 2001 and the outbreak of September 2000 in South Africa;
	(2)  if she will publish the phylogenetic analyses on which her Department's report Origin of the UK Foot and Mouth disease epidemic in 2001 based its conclusions on the introduction of the Foot and Mouth virus into Great Britain;
	(3)  what phylogenetic evidence was used to support the conclusion of her Department's report Origin of the UK Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in 2001 that the February 2001 UK outbreak and the September 2000 South African outbreak had a common origin as opposed to the South African outbreak being the origin of the UK outbreak;
	(4)  whether the Government has received evidence of a Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak isolate that has a closer phylogenetic relationship to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth in February 2001 in the UK than the outbreak of September 2000 in South Africa;
	(5)  what further analyses of the genome sequences of isolates from the February 2001 UK Foot and Mouth outbreak and the September 2000 South African Foot and Mouth Disease outbreaks, and their likely origins, have been performed since the publication of her Department's report, Origin of the UK foot and mouth disease epidemic in 2001.

Margaret Beckett: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 16 September 2004, Official Report, column 1669W.

New Rural Agency

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to appoint the Chairman and Board of the proposed new integrated agency for rural delivery.

Alun Michael: We would like to appoint a Chair-elect and a Board-elect before the 'Integrated Agency' is formally vested to help guide the development of the new organisation. The timing of the appointment will be dependent on the legislative process for establishing the 'Integrated Agency' in statute. We intend to bring forward legislation as soon as practicable, and to publish a draft bill as an early step.

New Rural Agency

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the effects on costs are expected to be from the proposed merger of English Nature with parts of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service.

Alun Michael: The Government announced in the 2004 Spending Review the Department's plan to generate efficiencies of £13 million a year by 2007–08 through the Modernising Rural Delivery Programme. Establishment of the Integrated Agency will generate efficiencies from a number of sources, principally reduced estates and staff costs from the merger of the three constituent organisations and the application of Gershon principles to deliver better value for money from back office services. These will contribute at least £6.5 million cumulative efficiencies by 2007–08 with further efficiencies in 2008–09 and 2009–10.
	The total main investment costs required to implement the Modernising Rural Delivery Programme as a whole are estimated to be approximately £40 million. These costs are expected to fall in financial years 2004–05 to 2008–09. Of this, it is estimated that around £30 million will be needed for establishment of the Integrated Agency. There may also be an additional ongoing cost associated with providing common terms and conditions for staff in the Agency.

Peat-free Soil Improvers

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress the UK is making towards the target of 40 per cent. of materials for growing media and soil improvers being peat-free by 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: The 2001 survey monitoring the use of peat and alternative products for growing media and soil improvers in the UK showed that 37 per cent. of the total consumption of the supply of materials used as soil improvers and growing media was peat-free. In 1999, 32 per cent. was peat-free. A new survey will monitor the use of peat and peat free alternatives for growing media alternatives between 2005 and 2010.

Peat-free Soil Improvers

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has for meeting the Government's target of 90 per cent. peat-free materials for growing media and soil improvers by 2010.

Ben Bradshaw: We are currently working to establish a stakeholder forum which we hope will contribute to the development of an action plan to achieve sustainable reduction in peat use in the UK. Although there have been delays in convening this forum, we hope to hold a first meeting in the first half of this year.
	In addition Defra is sponsoring research through the Horticulture LINK and other programmes (for example WRAP) to develop sustainable growing media solutions for the horticulture industry with less reliance on peat use.

Tree Planting

Tom Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what Government initiatives exist to promote the planting of trees; and what assessment she has made of the effect they have had on tree numbers.

Ben Bradshaw: New incentives to promote the planting of trees in England will be launched later this year. The Forestry Commission's English Woodland Grant Scheme (EWGS) will combine and replace incentives for the establishment of new woodland that were available under the Commission's Woodland Grant Scheme (WGS) and Defra's Farm Woodland Premium Scheme (FWPS). Defra's Environmental Stewardship Scheme which is replacing Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Area Schemes will build on past achievements by providing incentives for small-scale tree planting.
	In addition to these England-wide schemes there are various regional and local initiatives aimed at increasing tree cover; notably the National Forest in the Midlands and the twelve Community Forest partnerships based close to urban areas.
	Our target is to create 30,000 hectares of new woodland over the seven-year period, 2000–06, of the England Rural Development Programme. In the period 1 April 2000–31 March 2004, 24,198 hectares of new woodland had been planted with WGS and, where qualifying, FWPS support. The majority of trees planted under regional and local initiatives over the same period will have attracted WGS/FWPS support.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Select Committees (Running Costs)

Andrew Turner: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire, representing the House of Commons Commission what the running costs of each Select Committee of the House were in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what part of those costs were accounted for by (a) staff costs and (b) costs of publication and printing.

Archy Kirkwood: The Sessional Return (HC 1, 2004–05), published on 25 January 2005, gives a detailed breakdown of expenditure by each Select Committee of the House of Commons for Session 2003–04. Section10C gives financial information for financial year 2003–04 and Session 2003–04. The figures do not include accommodation and other centrally provided support costs.
	Staff salary costs for the Committee Office in financial year 2003–04 were approximately £6.3 million. Several Committees are staffed from outside the Committee Office by staff who in many cases have other responsibilities, as set out at pages 362–63 of the Return.
	Total printing and publishing costs in financial year 2003–04 were £1,599,696.95.

DEFENCE

Consultants

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Defencewhat the total expenditure by his Department on external consultants was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) 2003–04; and what the estimated cost of employing external consultants will be in (i) 2004–05, (ii) 2005–06, (iii) 2006–07 and (iv) 2007–08.

Ivor Caplin: Summaries of Ministry of Defence expenditure on external assistance, of which external consultancy is a part, are available in the Libraries of both Houses for financial years 1996–97 and 2003–04.
	Expenditure on External Assistance for FY 2004–05 is estimated to be in the region of £251 million.
	The Ministry of Defence has not yet set formal budgets for FY 2005–06 to 2007–08.

Defence Employment (Scotland)

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people working for the (a) Army Training and Recruiting Agency, (b) Duke of York's Military School and (c) Queen Victoria School are employed in Scotland; what the personnel costs of each agency were in each of the last two years for which figures are available.

Ivor Caplin: There are 60 civilians working for the Army Training and Recruiting Agency in Scotland. Figures for the number of Service personnel working in Scotland are not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Duke of York's Military School is located in Dover, Kent, and employs no personnel in Scotland.
	The Queen Victoria School in Dunblane employs 70 staff in Scotland, all civilians.
	The personnel costs of each agency for the years 2002–03 and 2003–04 are found in the agencies' respective annual reports and accounts 2003–04, copies of which have been laid in the Library of the House and are available on the Ministry of Defence website at www.mod.uk.

Gulf War Illnesses

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's latest published assessment is of the illnesses suffered by Gulf War veterans; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The Government's approach to the question of illnesses among veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict is science-based. To support this approach, we take expert independent scientific and medical advice on the complex and sensitive issues involved. We have invested £8.5 million on independent research projects investigating the concerns of veterans and our policy is to encourage researchers to publish results in the peer reviewed scientific press. Further details about published results are available on our website at: www.gulfwar.mod.uk.

HMS Sussex

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps will be taken to protect any human remains found on the wreck of HMS Sussex; if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The Licence Agreement provides that if human remains are discovered they must be treated at all times with the utmost respect and sensitivity. The company is required to ensure that the activities at the site avoid the unnecessary disturbance of human remains and that, where possible, human remains are left in situ. If human remains are accidentally retrieved, the company is required to notify the Government's on-board representatives immediately. The further treatment of those remains will then be as directed by the Government.

Infantry Regiments

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the (a) Regimental HQ and (b) individual Battalions of (i) Princess of Wales, (ii) Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, (iii) The Royal Anglian, (iv) Light Infantry, (v)Royal Green Jackets, (vi) Royal Gurkha Rifles and (vii)Parachute Regiments are based.

Ivor Caplin: The information sought is as follows:
	
		
			 Regiment Location of Battalions Location of regimental headquarters 
		
		
			 The Princess of Wales' s Royal Regiment (Queens and Royal Hampshires) 1st Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Burtphore Barracks, Tidworth, Hants Howe Barracks, Canterbury, Kent 
			  2nd Battalion The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment Clive Barracks, Tern Hill, Market Drayton, Shropshire  
			 
			 The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 1st Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Trenchard Barracks, Celle, Germany HM Tower of London, Tower Hill, London 
			  2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers Palace Barracks, Holywood, Co. Down, Northern Ireland  
			 
			 The Royal Anglian Regiment 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment Elizabeth Barracks, Pirbright, Surrey The Keep, Gibraltar Barracks, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk 
			  2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment Shackleton Barracks, Ballykelly, Londonderry, Northern Ireland  
			 
			 The Light Infantry 1st Battalion The Light Infantry Alanbroke Barracks, Paderborne, Germany Peninsula Barracks, Winchester, Hampshire 
			  2nd Battalion The Light Infantry Redford Barracks, Edinburgh, Scotland  
			 
			 The Royal Green Jackets 1st Battalion The Royal Green Jackets Weeton Barracks, Preston, Lancashire Peninsula Barracks, Winchester, Hampshire 
			  2nd Battalion The Royal Green Jackets Abercorn Barracks, Ballykinlar, Co. Down, Northern Ireland  
			 
			 The Royal Gurkha Rifles 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles Sir John Moore Barracks, Shorncliffe, Folkestone, Kent Headquarters The Brigade of Gurkhas, Airfield Camp, Netheravon, Wiltshire 
			  2nd Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles Seria Barracks, Brunei  
			 
			 The Parachute Regiment 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment Connaught Barracks, Dover, Kent Flagstaff House, Colchester, Essex 
			  2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment Meanee Barracks, Colchester, Essex  
			  3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment Hyderabad Barracks, Colchester, Essex

Inglis Barracks

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to preserve the Middlesex Regiment War Memorial and associated memorials when British Forces Post Office vacate Inglis Barracks, Mill Hill; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The future of the Middlesex Regiment War Memorial and associated memorials, once British Forces Post Office vacate the site, is being considered in conjunction with the Local Planning Authority (and other bodies, including English Partnerships) as part of discussions to formulate a development framework for the site and its surrounds.
	The Mill Hill Preservation Society have expressed an interest in purchasing the Inglis Barracks Officers' Mess and the immediate environs (including the gardens in which the Middlesex Regiment's War Memorial is located) for the benefit of the people of Mill Hill.

Land Mines (Falklands)

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on land mines and land mine clearance in the Falkland Islands.

Adam Ingram: I refer the hon. Member to the answergiven on 3 November 2004, Official Report, column 343W, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Ministry of Defence Staff

Russell Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) officers and (b) soldiers are serving in the Ministry of Defence, broken down by (i) location and (ii) rank; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: I refer my hon. Friend to Tri-Service Publication (TSP) 9—Rank Structure of UK Regular Forces at 1 October 2004, TSP6—Global Deployment of Service Personnel at 1 October 2002 and TSP 10—UK Regular Forces Distribution Across UK at 1 July 2002.
	These publications are available in the Library of the House.

RAF Manual of Flight Safety

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library the Sixth Edition of the RAF Manual of Flight Safety, issued in March 1993, including annexes.

Adam Ingram: The Sixth Edition of the RAF Manual of Flight Safety, officially described as Air Publication (AP) 3207, was issued in March 1993. This was superseded by the Seventh Edition, issued in 1998, which was itself replaced by a Joint Service Publication (JSP) 551 in July 2003. It is likely that the Sixth Edition will have been subject to a number of amendments (effected by replacing loose-leaf pages) during its period of currency. It is therefore unlikely that we could reconstruct" the original version of the Sixth Edition, even if a copy of its later state were to come to light. All other copies have been destroyed in line with departmental procedure.
	It is the nature of such documents that there is no reason for anyone to retain them once they have been superseded; perhaps more so once they have been replaced a second time. Therefore it is unlikely that any systematic search would reveal a copy of the Sixth Edition of AP 3207.
	In the case of AP 3207 the organisation responsible for its production, the RAF Institute of Flight Safety, has itself been superseded by the Joint Service Defence Air Safety Centre" (DASC). We have asked the DASC whether they have a copy of the Sixth Edition, but the only version of AP 3207 they hold is a copy of the Seventh Edition, which had itself been subject to three sets of amendments before it was replaced by JSP 551. I am happy to place in the Library a copy of the Seventh Edition of AP 3207, should the right hon. Member consider it useful.

Service Personnel (Belize)

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have died in non-combat situations in Belize in each year since the garrison was first established there.

Ivor Caplin: There has been a British military presence in one form or another in Belize (former British Honduras) since the late 17th Century. In modern times the Regular British Army went to Belize in 1948 and a garrison has been there continuously since this time.
	Between 1 January 1984 and 31 December 2004, 27Service personnel died in non-combat situations in Belize. It is not possible to provide information on deaths prior to 1984 as centrally held death records are known to be unreliable. A breakdown of these deaths by year is provided as follows.
	
		
			  Non-combat deaths 
		
		
			 1984 2 
			 1985 4 
			 1986 0 
			 1987 1 
			 1988 2 
			 1989 4 
			 1990 1 
			 1991 2 
			 1992 8 
			 1993 1 
			 1994 0 
			 1995 0 
			 1996 1 
			 1997 0 
			 1998 0 
			 1999 1 
			 2000–04 0 
			 Total 27

Trafalgar Celebrations

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made on identifying areas of support his Department can give to ensure the involvement of the Sea Cadet Association in celebrations of the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 24 January 2005
	The Royal Navy will be providing accommodation and transport around the Portsmouth area, and subsidised food for Sea Cadets participating in the Trafalgar 200 (T200) commemoration programme. Sea Cadets will be actively involved in all T200 events as a visible demonstration of the Past Glories—Future Horizons" theme. It is planned that over the three days the Fleet are in the Solent (the rehearsal day, the review day and the dispersal day) there will be 2,000 cadets on board ships in the Fleet Review, allowing them to experience the Review at first hand. Significant participation is also planned at both the Son et Lumiere and the International Drumhead Ceremony and for the International Festival of the Sea around five hundred cadets will be involved in a multitude of displays. Furthermore, it is planned that places for Sea Cadets will be made available at the St. Paul's Cathedral Service on 23 October and, on the same date, naval cadets will play a key part at the Celebrations in the Square" Grand Finale event in Trafalgar Square.

Training (Overseas Personnel)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list countries which have sent military personnel to the United Kingdom for military training in each of the last three years; and how many personnel were sent in each case.

Ivor Caplin: During the last three years more than 12,000 overseas military personnel, from 137 countries, have been trained at UK military establishments. A full breakdown of the numbers trained, by country, is in the following table.
	
		Overseas military personnel trained in the UK
		
			  Students trained 
			 Country 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 Total 
		
		
			 Afghanistan — — 7 7 
			 Albania 5 5 7 17 
			 Algeria — 4 8 12 
			 Angola 2 — 2 4 
			 Antigua and Barbuda 2 1 1 4 
			 Argentina 4 6 8 18 
			 Armenia 2 — 3 5 
			 Australia 83 62 48 193 
			 Austria 52 35 61 148 
			 Azerbaijan 2 2 4 8 
			 Bahamas 4 1 2 7 
			 Bahrain 30 44 34 108 
			 Bangladesh 146 164 6 316 
			 Barbados 3 4 3 10 
			 Belgium 84 105 95 284 
			 Belize 21 15 13 49 
			 Bermuda 18 21 15 54 
			 Bhutan — — 2 2 
			 Bolivia — 1 2 3 
			 Bosnia — 1 — 1 
			 Botswana 7 8 5 20 
			 Brazil 8 7 12 27 
			 Brunei 133 65 56 254 
			 Bulgaria 12 12 12 36 
			 Canada 191 176 140 507 
			 Chile 54 581 30 665 
			 China 22 32 8 62 
			 Colombia 1 5 5 11 
			 Croatia 4 4 7 15 
			 Czech (Republic) 60 29 17 106 
			 Denmark 29 35 83 147 
			 Ecuador — — 1 1 
			 Egypt 13 11 9 33 
			 Eritrea — — 2 2 
			 Estonia 10 13 9 32 
			 Ethiopia 1 5 4 10 
			 Falkland Islands — — 3 3 
			 Fiji 1 2 3 6 
			 Finland 8 18 6 32 
			 France 74 500 144 718 
			 Gambia — 3 2 5 
			 Georgia 5 6 1 12 
			 Germany 78 96 78 252 
			 Ghana 15 — 9 24 
			 Greece 48 51 59 158 
			 Grenada 1 — — 1 
			 Guatemala 6 3 2 11 
			 Guyana 5 6 3 14 
			 Honduras 4 2 — 6 
			 Hong Kong 1 5 4 10 
			 Hungary 23 26 17 66 
			 Iceland — — 2 2 
			 India 11 18 40 69 
			 Indonesia — 4 2 6 
			 Iraq — 20 10 30 
			 Ireland 62 107 36 205 
			 Israel 4 2 4 10 
			 Italy 60 90 143 293 
			 Ivory Coast — — 1 1 
			 Jamaica 22 19 19 60 
			 Japan 4 4 6 14 
			 Jordan 90 69 23 182 
			 Kazakhstan — 3 4 7 
			 Kenya 25 27 22 74 
			 Korea 2 2 2 6 
			 Kosovo 64 — — 64 
			 Kuwait 258 420 343 1,021 
			 Kyrghistan 1 2 — 3 
			 Latvia 11 22 8 41 
			 Lebanon — 7 4 11 
			 Libya — — 1 1 
			 Lithuania 12 26 19 57 
			 Luxembourg 1 2 1 4 
			 Macedonia 11 7 2 20 
			 Malawi 1 2 2 5 
			 Malaysia 58 24 47 129 
			 Malta 1 2 5 8 
			 Mauritania 2 — — 2 
			 Mauritius 5 6 7 18 
			 Mexico 4 1 — 5 
			 Moldova 2 1 3 6 
			 Morocco 2 7 8 17 
			 Mozambique — 1 2 3 
			 Namibia 2 2 — 4 
			 Nepal 37 19 24 80 
			 Netherlands 277 265 193 735 
			 New Zealand 29 24 23 76 
			 Nigeria 24 20 15 59 
			 Norway 297 326 278 901 
			 Oman 146 204 168 518 
			 Pakistan 56 31 61 148 
			 Panama — — 1 1 
			 Papua New Guinea 1 — — 1 
			 Paraguay 2 — — 2 
			 Peru — — 2 2 
			 Philippines 8 10 8 26 
			 Poland 14 14 18 46 
			 Portugal 82 44 14 140 
			 Qatar 60 46 70 176 
			 Romania 17 24 33 74 
			 Russia 19 8 12 39 
			 Saudi Arabia 75 75 121 271 
			 Senegal 3 11 4 18 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 1 1 7 9 
			 Sierra Leone 8 20 6 34 
			 Singapore 80 57 61 198 
			 Slovakia 26 18 26 70 
			 Slovenia 4 14 3 21 
			 South Africa 20 21 13 54 
			 Spain 12 11 8 31 
			 Sri Lanka 2 4 1 7 
			 St. Christopher/Nevis — 1 — 1 
			 St. Vincent — 1 1 2 
			 Sudan — — 1 1 
			 Swaziland — 1 — 1 
			 Sweden 34 65 36 135 
			 Switzerland 11 9 3 23 
			 Syria 3 4 3 10 
			 Tajikistan — — 1 1 
			 Tanzania 4 5 5 14 
			 Thailand 25 10 12 47 
			 Tonga — — 2 2 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 32 28 4 64 
			 Tunisia — 3 6 9 
			 Turkey 36 47 27 110 
			 Turkmenistan — — 1 1 
			 Uganda 2 6 11 19 
			 Ukraine 18 21 13 52 
			 United Arab Emirates 86 128 332 546 
			 Uruguay — 1 1 2 
			 USA 224 343 121 688 
			 Uzbekistan 1 7 10 18 
			 Venezuela — — 4 4 
			 Vietnam 2 — 2 4 
			 Yemen 8 7 26 41 
			 Yugoslavia 1 4 — 5 
			 Zambia — 2 1 3 
			 Total 3,774 5,029 3,611 12,414

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Casinos

John Greenway: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to include existing casinos in the proposed pilots for large and small casinos.

Richard Caborn: Existing casinos will have the opportunity to bid for licences to become small or large casinos. If successful, they will be able to operate with all the new entitlements authorised by the new licence.
	We wish to ensure that the existing industry is treated fairly, and remain willing to consider suggestions to that end.

Departmental Budget

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the resources that have been allocated under each departmental heading and subheading in the 2004 departmental report following the spending review 2004 for each year to 2007–08.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 13 December 2004
	The information is not yet available in the form that the hon. Member requests it. I have therefore set out in the table, the summary details of the Spending Review for the Department's sectors. The full information requested will be available in the Department's Annual Report which is expected to be published at the end of April.
	
		DCMS Allocations from the 2004 Spending Review  -- Resource (£000)
		
			  2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 
		
		
			 Museums, Galleries and Libraries 549,188 578,115 596,115 620,115 
			 Of which: 
			 Museums and Galleries 384,883 400,126 415,605 423,400 
			 Renaissance 20,000 30,000 32,000 45,000 
			 British Library 120,768 124,751 126,993 129,295 
			 Arts 367,921 412,996 412,996 412,996 
			 Of which: 
			 Arts Council 367,155 412,155 412,155 412,155 
			 Heritage (incl. Royal Parks) 179,578 180,858 182,358 188,858 
			 Of which: 
			 English Heritage 121,355 122,735 124,235 125,235 
			 National Heritage Memorial Fund — — — 5,000 
			 Quality and Innovation fund for Culture 0 0 0 6,000 
			 Tourism 54,143 54,614 55,614 55,614 
			 Of which: 
			 VisitBritain 48,580 49,051 50,051 50,051 
			 Gambling 3,478 2,684 2,684 2,684 
			 Of which: 
			 Gaming Board 3,478 2,684 2,684 2,684 
			 Broadcasting and CI 123,660 123,151 123,151 123,751 
			 Of which: 
			 Film Council UK 24,154 23,545 23,545 23,545 
			 Sport 120,643 123,912 151,412 156,912 
			 Of which: 
			 Sport England 81,118 87,616 87,616 87,616 
			 UK Sport 27,738 29,532 29,532 29,532 
			 Football Licensing Authority 1,128 1,264 1,264 1,264 
			 Other Sport — — 27,500 33,000 
			 Total allocations 1,398,611 1,476,330 1,524,330 1,566,930

Digital Television

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure that residents of multiple dwelling units can access digital television prior to analogue switch-off; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: holding answer 31 January 2005
	One of the challenges in completing digital switchover will be to make sure that residents in flats and other multi-dwelling units can access digital television services. Many residents living in multi-dwelling units already access digital television services either through communal systems that are capable of transmitting digital signals or through the use of other antennae.
	In order to help identify the issues for residents who live in multi dwelling units, we established a dedicated Housing Communications Group as part of the Digital Television Action Plan. The Housing Communications Group includes representatives from leading housing bodies including the Chartered Institute of Housing, the National Housing Federation, the National Landlords Association, tenants groups such as TPAS and TAROE and representatives from the Digital Television Group.
	In June 2004, DCMS and DTI wrote to all local authorities, registered social landlords and around 70 housing bodies to alert them to digital switchover and to encourage them to factor this in when preparing plans to develop new housing stock or refurbish or upgrade existing stock.
	In August 2004 we commissioned NOP to carry out a research project to investigate the progress made by social landlords. This research will enable us to have a better assessment of what is needed and to get a representative picture of when social landlords believe they will be able to upgrade systems for digital switchover. We hope to publish the findings of this study very shortly.
	We have also started work, in association with the Chartered Institute of Housing, to produce comprehensive new guidance later this year setting out the options available to landlords who have properties with analogue communal systems which need to be upgraded. The guidance will be aimed at both the private and social sector landlords and housing developers. We also plan to issue separate guidance for householders which will cover the issues for tenants living in MDUs.

Digital Television

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 24 January 2005, Official Report, column 44W, on digital switch-over, what the few remaining issues relating to digital switch-over are that require to be resolved prior to the Government confirming the timetable for switch-over.

Estelle Morris: The remaining issues include the precise coverage requirement (number of transmitters to be converted, mode and power combinations), the regional order, the Technical Trial in Wales and most of all, consideration of the interests of the most vulnerable consumers.

Library Services (Wakefield)

Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been made available to Wakefield Council for library services in each of the last five years.

Richard Caborn: The Annual Public Library Statistics, published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for the years 1999–2000 to 2002–03 (the latest available) show the overall expenditure by Wakefield libraries as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1999–2000 3,309,655 
			 2000–01 3,579,166 
			 2001–02 3,684,526 
			 2002–03 3,980,546 
		
	
	The expenditure will be underpinned by funding from a number of sources, national, local and self-generated. Non ring-fenced core funding for public libraries is paid to the 149 library authorities in England as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. DCMS does not hold a precise figure but I understand that Wakefield has added some uplift to the 2004–05 libraries budget and I commend them for that. I also understand that the Library Service itself has been energetic in forming partnerships and accessing external funding; this is also highly commendable.
	Wakefield's libraries, in common with those in the rest of the United Kingdom, are connected to the internet through a £120 million national lottery grant, which established the People's Network.
	Additionally, my Department is funding the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council £5 million over the three years ending 2005–06 to implement the Framework for the Future Action Plan and Library Improvement Programme which is designed to encourage improvement across the public library sector in England generally.

Museums (Loans)

Mark Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many objects have been loaned to (a) other UK museums and galleries, (b) museums and galleries in other EU countries and (c) non-EU foreign museums and galleries by national museums and galleries in the UK in each of the last five years.

Estelle Morris: We do not collect figures on the number of loan objects. In agreement with our sponsored museums and galleries, we record the number of loan venues, which presents a better measure of regional reach. The figures are provided by our sponsored museums and galleries.
	The table shows the number of UK and overseas loan venues for all DCMS sponsored museums and galleries from 1999–2000 to 2002–03 and in 2003–04, following a change of target, the number of venues in England to which objects from the collection were loaned.
	
		
			  1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 British Museum 238 171 175 209 94 
			 Geffrye Museum 4 6 5 5 5 
			 Horniman Museum 13 19 9 9 13 
			 Imperial War Museum 177 180 180 200 127 
			 Museum of London 106 105 108 111 91 
			 Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester 3 3 3 7 6 
			 National Gallery 97 118 91 88 115 
			 National Maritime Museum 83 68 97 109 93 
			 National Museums Liverpool 93 99 42 95 65 
			 National Museum of Science and Industry 254 259 245 259 217 
			 National Portrait Gallery 72 86 103 115 90 
			 Natural History Museum 3,697 3,116 2,264 2,610 61 
			 Royal Armouries 129 129 138 135 99 
			 Sir John Soane's Museum 10 11 9 8 8 
			 Tate Gallery 135 213 189 154 69 
			 Tyne and Wear Museums(1) n/a 80 55 41 44 
			 Victoria and Albert Museum 309 295 292 315 255 
			 Wallace Collection(2) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	(1)DCMS began funding Tyne and Wear Museums in 2000–01. Figures for previous years are not available.
	(2)Under the terms of the bequest, the Wallace Collection cannot lend objects from the collection.

National Lottery Funding

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research has been conducted regarding those communities which feel unable to accept funding derived from the National Lottery because of religious or cultural belief.

Estelle Morris: The Department is not aware of any research on this issue.
	We would like Lottery funding to benefit as many people and communities as possible. However, we fully respect the decision of those groups who choose not to apply for National Lottery funding, and indeed those individuals who choose not to play the Lottery.

National Lottery Funding

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will conduct a survey to ascertain the effect which the absence of potential funding has on those communities unable to accept direct funding from the National Lottery.

Estelle Morris: The Department is not aware of any research on this issue, nor do we have plans to undertake any such research.
	We would like Lottery funding to benefit as many people and communities as possible. However, we fully respect the decision of those groups who choose not to apply for National Lottery funding, and indeed those individuals who choose not to play the Lottery.

NESTA

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the total spending on administration costs at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts was in each year from 1999–2000 to 2003–04; how much was spent on grants in each year; what estimate she has made of (a) administration costs and (b) grant expenditure in each year from 2004–05 to 2007–08; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) exists to pioneer ways of supporting and promoting talent, innovation and creativity across science, technology and the arts. It supports awardees both through financial grants and added value assistance that maximises the projects chances of success. Added value assistance includes mentoring and specialist advice.
	NESTA divides its non-grant costs into support for awardees—'programme support costs' and non-awardee costs—'non-programme costs' as set out in the table:
	
		Analysis of expenditure 1999–2005 -- £000
		
			  1999–2000(3) 2000–01(3) 2001–02(3) 2002–03(3) 2003–04(3) 2004–05(4) 
		
		
			 Awards made(5) 1,948 4,911 5,514 7,271 8,985 10,476 
			 Programme support costs(6) 2,152 3,478 3,758 4,669 6,117 9,052 
			 Other projects directly delivering statutory objects(7) — — 3,105 4,613 4,283 4,125 
			 Total programme costs 4,100 8,389 12,377 16,553 19,385 23,653 
			 Non-programme costs(8) 1,814 1,270 1,204 1,270 1,458 1,732 
			 Total expenditure 5,914 9,659 13,581 17,823 20,843 25,385 
			 Non-programme costs as a percentage of total expenditure 30.7 13.1 8.9 7.1 7.0 6.8 
		
	
	(3)Actual.
	(4)Forecast.
	(5)Awards made (grants and investments) to projects in accordance with NESTA's remit.
	(6)Programme support costs includes the direct costs of developing and delivering the awards programme and an allocation of indirect costs, based on estimated time spent supporting the awards programme.
	(7)Other projects that directly deliver NESTA statutory objects include Futurelab, and Planet Science.
	(8)Non-programme costs include both staff and other administrative costs.
	A detailed breakdown of expenditure can be found in NESTA's Annual report and accounts 2003–04 (HC 23) that was placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	Spending plans for 2005–06 to 2007–08 will be decided by Trustees of NESTA, having regard to the endowment income available to them and the need to secure value for money when expending funds.
	NESTA has key performance indicator targets that measure operational efficiency in terms of non-grant costs. The Department will shortly discuss with NESTA the targets they intend to set for 2005–06.

Television Licences

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate she has made of the number of residents living in multiple dwelling units who own a television licence.

Estelle Morris: holding answer 31 January 2005
	The Government have made no such estimate. We understand from the BBC that the data held by TV Licensing on television licences in force does not distinguish between licensable addresses on the basis of whether or not they form part of a building in multiple occupancy.

Tourism

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent by her Department and the agencies for which she is responsible to promote tourism in (a) the UK as a whole and (b) each of the UK regions in 2003–04.

Richard Caborn: Grant in aid from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to VisitBritain totalled £45.9 million in 2003–04, of which £35.5 million was allocated to promoting Britain overseas, and £10.4 million to promoting England within Britain.
	In addition, the Greater London Authority received funding of £1.9 million from DCMS to promote tourism in 2003–04.
	In 2003, the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) were given strategic responsibility for tourism in the regions. Of the total estimate of £58.9 million allocated to tourism by the RDAs in 2003–04, the following amounts were paid by DCMS specifically for tourism:
	
		
			 Regional Development Agency Funding in 2003–04 (£000) 
		
		
			 East of England 543 
			 West Midlands 252 
			 East Midlands 252 
			 North East 333 
			 South East England 744 
			 South West England 403 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 360 
			 North West 713

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Bangladesh

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what (a) cross-ethnic and (b) cross-faith projects were (i) financed, (ii) planned and (iii) run by his Department in Bangladesh in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the (a) current level and (b) development since 1997 of religious freedom and tolerance in Bangladesh; what effect the changes have had on the effectiveness of development projects; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The UK's current assessment is that there is some cause for concern regarding human rights in Bangladesh, including religious freedom and tolerance. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office maintains close contact with minority groups and together we have raised issues of religious freedom at high-level meetings with the Bangladesh Government. My hon. Friend, the Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Alexander) raised the issue of minority rights during his visit in December 2004.
	DFID's support to Bangladesh is for poverty reduction and for poor people's social and economic rights irrespective of their religious or ethnic background. Since 1997 all projects financed, planned and run by DFID have been for cross-faith and cross-ethnic populations. As DFID projects are open to all, none are explicitly cross-ethnic or cross-faith.
	DFID monitors effectiveness on the basis of povertyreduction as measured through the millennium development goals and so do not analyse performance according to faith- based and ethnic-based categories. In addition, DFID specifically supports civil society organisations that promote the realisation and protection of social and economic rights, including for minorities. Some examples are:
	Manusher Jonno (People for People)
	To enhance the capacity of, and opportunities for, poor men, women and children to demand improved governance and recognition of their rights.
	Samata
	Empowerment of the landless to gain access to more resources and to experience less exploitation.
	Nijera Kori
	To increase pressure on government, politicians and others, to provide better access for poor men and women to decision-making processes, resources and services.

Burma

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the (a) economic, (b) social and (c) humanitarian impact of tourism on the people of Burma since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has not carried out an assessment of the impacts of tourism on the people of Burma. However, we have read with interest, the work of others, for example Respect (www.respect.at) and Tourism Concern (www.tourismconcern.org.uk).
	It is Her Majesty's Government (HMG) policy not to encourage tourism to Burma. HMG has drawn to the attention of travel organisations the views of the Burmese democratic opposition that tourism is inappropriate at present due to the political and human rights situation there. As part of this policy, Burmese tourism officials are included in the European Union visa ban and asset freeze.

Engineers Without Borders

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the projects undertaken by (a) Engineers Without Borders UK (EWB-UK) and (b) Engineers Without Borders International since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how much (a) funding, (b) logistical aid and (c) aid in kind his Department has (i) pledged and (ii)contributed to projects (A) planned and (B) run by (1) Engineers Without Frontiers UK and (2) Engineers Without Frontiers International in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what (a) financial assistance, (b) logistical assistance and (c) assistance in kind his Department has given to Engineers Without Borders UK for the Sunseed Desert Technology programme in Almeria, Spain; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what assessment his Department has undertaken of the (a) economic, (b) social and (c) humanitarian impact of the Sunseed Desert Technology project undertaken by Engineers Without Borders UK in Almeria, Spain; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  what assessment his Department has made of the long-term viability of the Sunseed Desert Technology project undertaken by Engineers Without Borders UK in Almeria, Spain; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  what assessment his Department has made of the (a) marketplace value of and (b) technological and scientific advancement achieved by the Sunseed Desert Technology project run by Engineers Without Borders UK in Almeria, Spain; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  what assessment his Department has made of the value to the (a) rural and (b) environmental workforce of the Sunseed Desert Technology project run by Engineers Without Borders UK in Almeria, Spain; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  what assessment his Department has undertaken of the (a) economic, (b) social and (c) humanitarian impact of the World Health Organisation, Pan-American Health Organisation and Medical Mission project undertaken by Engineers Without Borders UK in Paramaribo, Surinam; what assessment he has made of the long-term viability of the programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(9)  what assessment his Department has made of the long-term viability of the Pastoral Social and University of Ibarra project undertaken by Engineers Without Borders UK in Ecuador; and if he will make a statement;
	(10)  what assessment his Department has undertaken of the (a) economic, (b) social and (c) humanitarian effect of the Pastoral Social and University of Ibarra project undertaken by Engineers Without Borders UK in Ecuador; and if he will make a statement;
	(11)  how much (a) financial assistance, (b) logistical assistance and (c) assistance in kind was provided to Engineers Without Borders UK by his Department for the programme in Paramaribo, Surinam with the World Health Organisation, Pan-American Health Organisation and Medical Mission in each year since its inception in 2004; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is aware of the good work undertaken by Engineers without Borders UK and also through the international network of associate organisations. Initiatives such as placements to expose engineering students to work in developing countries while making a positive impact on peoples' lives, and related small-scale research projects are welcomed. The universities and companies that support the scheme and students who volunteer are to be congratulated. DFID has not provided funding for EWB and so has not undertaken assessments of their projects including EWB's activities in Ecuador and Surinam.
	Regarding the Sunseed Desert Technology programme in Spain, its aims of demonstrating appropriate ways of living sustainably in semi-arid environments are useful and it provides valuable exposure for the volunteers who go to work there. DFID is not involved in this programme and so has not undertaken any assessments of its activities or long term viability.

Health Investment

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to encourage developing countries to invest in health through (a) building infrastructure and (b) providing training.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID recognises that there is a critical need to enhance capacity in developing countries to deliver high quality, essential health services to the poor and support countries in their attempts to reach the health related millennium development goals.
	DFID's approach is to support countries themselves to develop comprehensive policies and strategies to build sustainable health systems, elements of which include a trained workforce and health infrastructure. Wherever possible, this will be within the context of a countries' own overall poverty reduction plans. Over the last five years, DFID has provided significant support for health services development, including £560 million in Africa alone. Of this, an estimated 5 per cent. to 20 per cent., depending on the country, is spent on developing the capacity of the workforce.

HIV Treatment

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to improve access to care and treatment for HIV sufferers outside the UK;
	(2)  if he will encourage G8 leaders to set a date and timetable for ensuring treatment for all HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: AIDS is a centrepiece of the British Government's agenda for the G8 presidency this year. By the end of 2005 DFID wants to have agreement among donors and the international system on a well co-ordinated and funded plan to tackle AIDS so that we can move forward on treatment, prevention, care for orphans as well as research into better treatments, vaccines and microbicides. DFID will also work to maintain momentum for HIV prevention and take forward efforts to bring together HIV prevention efforts with sexual and reproductive health services.
	The UK supports efforts to provide increased, and eventually universal, access to treatment and care for people with AIDS. We support the WHO and UNAIDS '3 by 5' goal to provide anti-retroviral therapy to three million people in developing countries by the end of 2005, of which two million will be in Africa. DFID is advocating for equitable provision to women and children, and if appropriate, encourage a target of at least 50 per cent. of treatments being directed to women and children.
	A recent report (January 26) of the progress of the WHO programme showed us that in the second half of 2004, the number of people on ARV therapy in developing and transitional countries increased dramatically from 440,000 to an estimated 720,000. This shows that progress can be achieved with an effective, coordinated, sustained country led HIV/AIDS response. However, ARV treatment is only one element of the treatment needs of HIV positive people in poor countries, many of whom do not have access to good nutrition, clean water, antibiotics or even testing so that they know that they are positive.

HIV Treatment

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he has taken to minimise prices of medications for HIV/AIDS patients in the developing world.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: One third of the world's population still lacks access to essential medicines. The UK Government are committed to increasing access to medicines in developing countries, including for the treatment of HIV and AIDS. There has been significant progress in this area. A combination of increased donor financing, competition from generic medicines, offers by research-based companies and improved health systems has led to a reduction in the price of first line antiretroviral medicines of as much as 98 per cent. over the last four years.
	The UK Government have contributed to this reduction in prices in a number of ways. We worked with our international partners at the World Trade Organisation to reach the decision of 30 August 2003 allowing developing countries with no, or insufficient, manufacturing capacity in their pharmaceutical sector to import copies of patented medicines. These can be imported from countries such as India, following the issuing of a compulsory license in both the importing and exporting country. This important decision should help to increase the supply and availability of quality medicines.
	DFID has significantly increased its funding for AIDS related programmes, including for treatment. The Department has committed to spend at least £1.5 billion on AIDS- related programmes over the next three years, and have doubled our funding to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Increased donor financing to buy medicines has contributed to the reduction in prices by increasing demand.
	DFID has also committed over £1.5 billion since 1997 to strengthen developing country health systems. This includes support to pharmaceutical procurement systems. Good quality systems can help to reduce prices. In addition, the UK supports the World Health Organisation's (WHO)'s work on 'pre-qualification' which increases access to quality, affordable medicines—both patent and generic—in developing countries.
	The UK Government have also worked directly with stakeholders, including the pharmaceutical industry, to increase access to medicines. In 2001 the Prime Minister established a high level UK Working Group on Increasing Access to Essential Medicines in the Developing World". This reported in November 2002, recommending more support for research and development for diseases disproportionately affecting developing countries, and a global framework to facilitate voluntary, widespread, sustainable and predictable, differential pricing by pharmaceutical companies. This was followed in June 2004 by Increasing access to essential medicines in the developing world: UK Government policy and plans", which detailed how the UK Government are working in partnership with developing country governments, donors, international agencies, NGOs and the private sector to increase access to medicines.
	DFID has been engaging with pharmaceutical companies to develop a framework encouraging 'good practice' in the pharmaceutical industry so as to increase access to medicines. This framework seeks to recognise the good work of the many companies in the industry, and to encourage pharmaceutical companies to go further by:
	Engaging in widespread differential pricing of medicines in developing countries.
	Increasing research and development investment for diseases affecting developing countries, including through engagement in public-private partnerships.
	Working to support broader health and development goals in developing countries, including by considering voluntary licenses, and
	Reporting on activities designed to increase access to medicines.

HIV/AIDS (Children)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how the expenditure on orphans and vulnerable children that is specified in the AIDS strategy will be recorded to ensure that it reaches those children;
	(2)  what indicators the UK Government are intending to use for monitoring expenditure of the £150 million allocated to meet the needs of orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: A new sector code Social Protection for Children" has been created in DFID's internal coding system. All expenditure which attracts this sector code and is also AIDS relevant (has an AIDS code) will be recorded as contributing to the £150 million on orphans and vulnerable children mentioned in the UK AIDS Strategy as activities are actually undertaken and paid for (not just as funds are committed). DFID might create other codes in the future if AIDS-related orphans and vulnerable children work is being undertaken which cannot be described as social protection".

HIV/AIDS (Children)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the UK Government are taking to ensure that orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS are considered as a priority issue in the European Union's forthcoming revised Programme for Action on Poverty Diseases.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: Along with other member states, we are engaging in the consultation process towards a new Programme for Action on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis which the EC expects to adopt in 2006. The current Programme for Action does not address orphans and vulnerable children and we will consider how best to address this gap in the forthcoming consultations. Discussions on the new EU development policy have only just started. The Commission has produced a 'Consultation on the future of EU Development Policy Issues Paper', which includes consideration of the broad themes of 'Development of human resources and citizens' rights' and 'Combating inequality and promoting social cohesion', both of which are likely to include consideration of orphans and vulnerable children. Consultations with members of the European Parliament and other member states will take place in due course.

HIV/AIDS (Children)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action the UK Government will be taking in 2005 to secure the commitment of other (a) G8 Governments and (b) EU member states (i) to endorse and (ii) to earmark resources for the implementation of the framework for the protection, care and support of orphans and vulnerable children living in a world with HIV/AIDS.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID will use its Presidencies of the G8 and the EU to increase action on AIDS. This will include attention to the situation of children affected by the pandemic, the orphans and vulnerable children. Committing resources to implement the Framework for the protection, care and support of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) living in a world with HIV and AIDS", which is the global guidance developed by UNICEF and partners and widely endorsed by the international community, including DFID, is key. The framework is being translated into national OVC action plans—16 have been developed in Sub-Saharan Africa and more are being planned.
	DFID has announced a commitment to spend at least £150 million over three years on OVCs (of which £44 million will go to UNICEF for the development and implementation of national OVC action plans). We will be encouraging other G8 and EU member states to increase their support to national programmes. The USA has, like us, already earmarked funding and endorsed the framework as have Germany and Denmark. Canada and France also see OVCs as a priority issue, yet others have not yet followed this line.
	Along with other member states we are engaging in the consultation process towards a new Programme for Action on HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis which the EC expects to adopt in 2006. The current Programme for Action does not address orphans and vulnerable children and we will consider how best to address this gap in the forthcoming consultations. Discussions on the new EU Development Policy have only just started. The Commission has produced a 'Consultation on the future of EU Development Policy Issues Paper', which includes consideration of the broad themes of 'Development of human resources and citizens' rights' and 'Combating inequality and promoting social cohesion', both of which are likely to include consideration of orphans and vulnerable children. Consultations with members of the European Parliament and other member states will take place in due course.

HIV/AIDS (Children)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his Department's priority countries are in regard to orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS.

Hilary Benn: At the launch of Taking Action: The UK's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world", the Prime Minister announced that £150 million would be dedicated to helping orphans and other children made vulnerable by AIDS, especially in Africa.
	Our priority countries are those countries where we have a Public Sector Agreement. In Africa these are Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and, Zimbabwe.
	DFID will be working in most of these countries in support of the development and implementation of national action plans for the protection, care and support of orphans and vulnerable children. In addition, we will be providing support to some of the worst affected countries in Southern Africa, such as Namibia and Swaziland through a regional programme of support implemented by UNICEF.

HIV/AIDS (Children)

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what his plans are for including Asian countries in future plans for orphans and vulnerable children.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is planning a programme of support to UNICEF in Asia to help prepare an improved regional analysis of the needs of orphans and vulnerable children, and to enhance advocacy by Asian groups involved in this work. This will include those affected by HIV and AIDS. The bilateral programme already provides some support in this area and there are plans to extend our support to orphans and vulnerable children through our country assistance programmes. For example in India, DFID supports targeted interventions for street children, who are particularly vulnerable. DFID also provide funds for the UNICEF/Government of India school AIDS education programme. In Cambodia DFID is supporting the review of the national HIV and AIDS plans, which is expected to strengthen action for orphans and vulnerable children.

Kenya

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effects of UK aid on infrastructure development in Kenya during 2004.

Hilary Benn: DFID made no direct investments in infrastructure in Kenya during 2004 and therefore made no formal assessment of the effects of its aid on infrastructure development during that period.
	Many other donor agencies including the World Bank, the European Commission, some UN agencies, the Germans, Swedes, Japanese, French and international Non-Government Organisations contribute significantly to infrastructure development directly in Kenya. As a result, we have focused our support to other critical sectors such as health and education where we assessed our funding would have more impact. DFID has therefore gradually reduced its support to direct investment in infrastructure over the past few years and nearly all our remaining stand-alone projects in roads and water/sanitation were closed down during 2002 and 2003. DFID Kenya maintains direct support to Oxfam and Action Aid who continue to provide water and sanitation services to marginalised communities in Kenya.

Microenterprises

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the (a) economic and (b) social value of the introduction of microenterprises aimed at providing mechanised peanut butter processing and corn grinding, with particular reference to Sanankoroni and Mountougoula in Mali; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID has no bilateral programme in Mali and therefore have not assessed the impact of agricultural microenterprises there.

Rapid Assesment Action Planning

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how his Department plans to be involved in the second round of UNICEF-led Rapid Assessment Analysis Action Planning plans in 2005.

Hilary Benn: Through our country programmes, DFID is engaged with the first round of UNICEF-led Rapid Assessment, Analysis and Action Plan (RAAAP) processes in Africa and will be providing support for the implementation of the costed national action plans in selected countries. DFID is currently in consultation with UNICEF headquarters and regional offices on plans for the further country assessments and action planning. The details of these processes have yet to be finalised, but we expect the support we announced at the Global Partners' Forum in December 2004 for UNICEF on orphans and vulnerable children to contribute to these.
	The Global Partners' Forum meeting held at the World Bank in December 2004 demonstrated that the Framework is widely accepted, even if not all agencies have officially endorsed it. The key issue now is ensuring it is put into practice. A good start has been made in sub-Saharan Africa through the rapid assessment; analysis and action plan processes (RAAAP). This has resulted in the development of 16 national action plans for orphans and vulnerable children based on the framework. For some of these, we are considering providing support for implementation.

World Trade Organisation

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the likely trade gains to least developed countries under the Doha Development Agenda; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: Despite the difficulties of estimating the effects of trade reform, World Bank figures indicate that eliminating all barriers to trade in goods would generate an extra US$250 billion—$620 billion in global income, up to half of which would go to developing countries. They further estimate that a pro-poor outcome to the Doha Development Round of negotiations could reduce the number of people living on less than $2 a day by 144 million, with sub-Saharan Africa seeing the greatest reduction—over 60 million.
	We need to keep the Doha Development Agenda as ambitious as possible in order to realise these gains. The EU, along with several other World Trade Organisation (WTO) members, already provides duty free and quota free access for least developed countries under the Everything But Arms" initiative; DFID would like to see other WTO members extend similar market access to these countries.
	It is also important to tackle all distortions in world agricultural trade—tariffs, quotas and unfair forms of export competition. Progress in this area will determine the extent to which poor people, like the cotton producers of Benin, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mali will benefit from the outcome of the Doha Round.
	However, World Bank research also emphasises that market access is necessary but not sufficient for the least developed countries to maximise the potential trade gains from multilateral trade liberalisation under the Doha Round.
	We must also acknowledge and tackle the many supply side constraints faced by the poorest countries. This will require a combination of domestic reforms, technical assistance and capacity building, to enable their producers to take better advantage of new market opportunities abroad, for example, through meeting the stringent product standards that their exports often face.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Community Interest Companies

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what research her Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on social enterprises since the Community Interest Company title was introduced under the Companies (Audit Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: No research on social enterprises has been commissioned since CICs gained Royal Assent in October 2004.
	The Social Enterprise Unit, DTI, together with English Regional Development Agencies and the devolved administrations, has been undertaking a project to establish baseline data on the nature and extent of social enterprises across the UK. This project is one of our commitments in Social Enterprise: a strategy for success". Thousands of enterprises have taken part in short telephone surveys, which were completed in December 2004. The data is currently being analysed and results are expected to be published in spring 2005.
	In addition, the Social Enterprise Unit, in consultation with the devolved administrations and other Government Departments, is in the process of commissioning a review of the Government's strategy for social enterprise to help inform future action in this area.

Community Interest Companies

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what progress has been made since the creation of Community Interest Companies under the Companies (Audit Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 further to support the establishment of social enterprises; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The substantive provisions of the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 relating to community interest companies will come into force on the 1 July 2005. Mr.John Hanlon has been appointed as the independent regulator of community interest companies and will take up office on 1 April. My Department is working with him, his staff and Companies House to ensure applications to form a community interest company can be made from July 2005 onwards. My Department is also considering responses to the consultation on draft community interest company regulations which closed in January 2005. A final draft of the regulations will be laid before both Houses soon.
	My Department has published two fact sheets providing information on community interest companies and the role of the regulator. A third fact sheet providing further information is in preparation. More than 30 individuals and organisations have registered their intention to form or convert to community interest companies since the publication of the first fact sheet in December 2004. The regulator and his office will issue more detailed guidance before July 2005.
	More broadly, the Social Enterprise Unit within the Small Business Service continues to lead Government activities to support the establishment and growth of social enterprises, within the framework laid out in the 2002 document 'Social enterprise: a strategy for success'

ECGD

James Arbuthnot: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, for what amount she has budgeted to cover liability for costs (a) of her Department and (b) of those whom her Department has agreed to pay all or part of their costs in relation to the action for judicial review brought against her Department by Corner House in respect of Export Credits Guarantee Department forms.

Douglas Alexander: pursuant to the reply, 26 January 2005, Official Report, c. 398W
	Unfortunately a number of words were omitted from my original answer. Following is the full text.
	The current estimate for what ECGD will pay its external solicitors and counsel in relation to the action for judicial review brought by Corner House is £64,710. The costs of The Corner House, which ECGD will pay under the terms of the High Court settlement of 13 January 2004, have yet to be agreed.

Indonesia (Arms Exports)

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Export Credits Guarantee Department included agent's commission in the overall contract sum to be underwritten on the sale of armoured vehicles by Alvis Plc to Indonesia.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 27 January 2005
	Contractual arrangements (including agent's commission) are provided to ECGD by exporters in confidence.

Manufacturing Support

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on Government support for the manufacturing industry in the last financial year.

Jacqui Smith: The Department of Trade and Industry spent approximately £0.5 billion on business support programmes in the last financial year ending April 2004.
	In addition, the Department supports business through a number of different mechanisms such as Regional Selective Assistance and initiatives on, among other things, innovation, technology and best practice. For example the 2004 Spending Review (SR2004) allocated £320 million to the Technology Strategy, and total funding for Manufacturing Advisory Service over the SR2004 period will be £34 million—representing an increase of £4 million compared with the SR2002 period.
	While we will have aggregate data for each, collating how much was spent on manufacturing in total could be provided only at a disproportionate cost not least because of the complexity of the Standard Industrial Classification codes.
	As a indication of Government investment in manufacturing, Regional Selective Assistance grants worth £295 million were offered in the period April 2003 to April 2004, approximately 80 per cent. of which were to manufacturing companies, securing £1.9 billion investment and safeguarding/creating 43,100 jobs.

Minimum-price Alcohol

Ross Cranston: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the implications for competition of pubs and nightclubs being obliged to charge minimum prices for alcohol as a means of tackling alcohol misuse; and if she will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Chapter One of the Competition Act 1998 prohibits agreements, decisions or practices that restrict competition, including those that seek to fix prices or trading conditions. In the context of inter-departmental discussions on the options for tackling problems associated with excessive alcohol consumption, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has provided advice about the effects of competition law.

Publicity

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the total expenditure by her Department on (a) advertising and (b) advertising and publicity was in (i) 1996–97, (ii) 1997–98 and (iii) 2003–04; and what the estimate of cost of each will be in (A) 2004–05, (B)2005–06, (C) 2006–07 and (D) 2007–08.

Patricia Hewitt: The information requested is not held centrally in the form required and could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

Rural Post Offices

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how the term rural is defined for the purposes of UK Government policy on post offices; and what discussions she has had with Ministers in the Scottish Executive about such a definition.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The classification of a post office branch as urban or rural is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. The company has for several years classified rural post offices on the basis of a Countryside Agency definition of a rural settlement as one with less than 10,000 inhabitants. This definition replaced their earlier one which classified communities up to 6,300 people as 'rural'. The wider definition was adopted by the Post Office in the autumn of 2000 when the formal requirement to maintain the rural network and prevent avoidable closures was placed upon them by this Government. Around 1,500 additional post offices were brought under the protected 'rural' category as a result of the adoption and implementation of the wider definition.
	While there have not been any specific discussions held with Ministers in the Scottish Executive over the company's definition of rural post offices, officials from my Department are in regular contact with officials at the Scottish Executive on the issue of rural post offices.

Ukraine

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to facilitate UK-Ukraine trade and foreign direct investment by UK companies into the Ukraine.

Douglas Alexander: UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) supports businesses in the UK seeking to compete internationally. UKTI brings together the overseas resources of the FCO with the Department of Trade and Industry, and has strong partnerships with Regional Development Agencies in England, as well as with the Devolved Administrations.
	Advice and assistance is available from UKTI for UK companies interested in trading with, and investing in, the Ukraine.

Wholesale Gas Market

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the operation of the UK forward wholesale gas market; what assessment her Department has made of the differential between the UK forward gas price and comparable prices in the rest of the EU; and if she will make a statement on the effect of the UK forward wholesale gas market on the competitiveness of intensive industrial consumers of gas.

Mike O'Brien: Great Britain has the most highly developed forward gas market in the European Union. UK forward prices for contracts delivering gas in Quarter 1 2005 and winter 2005–06 rose slowly through 2004, peaking sharply in October, before falling back. Continental forward prices (Zeebrugge Hub, Belgium, and TTF, the Netherlands) followed a similar pattern, but did not peak as severely and remain below the UK price. The relatively high UK winter forward prices reflect seasonality and the potential tightness in the market.
	My right hon, Friend the Secretary of State met representatives of energy intensive users before Christmas and agreed that officials would work with industry to develop ideas for improving the operation of the forward gas market. I have also held discussions with companies on this issue.

Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether she expects to postpone further the Government's decision to allow the NHS to re-coup costs under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 until the Office of Fair Trading has completed its latest investigation into the cost of employers' liability insurance.

Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
	The consultation exercise has only recently ended and we are still analysing the responses. It would therefore be premature to make any announcements on next steps or to make the responses publicly available at this stage. When we have completed our analysis, we will in due course publish a summary of responses in accordance with the provisions of the Government's code of practice on consultations. At that time, we will make the responses themselves available in the Library.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Budget Allocations

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total spending on the (a) Union Learning Fund, (b) Adult Learning Inspectorate, (c) Wellbeing Project, (d) National College of School Leadership, (e) Sector Skills Development Agency and (f) Office of Fair Access was in each year from 1997–98 to 2003–04; and what the planned expenditure is on each for each year from 2004–05 to 2007–08.

Derek Twigg: Information on total spending can be provided from the year in which the body started operation or the initiative began. The following table shows expenditure in £ millions.
	
		£ million
		
			 Body/initiative Date began 1998/99 1999/2000 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 
		
		
			 Union Learning Fund 1998/99 1.7 3.1 3.9 6.3 7.4 
			 Adult Learning Inspectorate 2001/02 — — — 17.1 24.5 
			 Wellbeing Project 2003/04 — — — — — 
			 National College of School Leadership 2001/02 — — — 26.5 60.5 
			 Sector Skills Development Agency 2002/03 — — — — 15.9 
			 Office for Fair Access 2005/06 — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Body/initiative Date began 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 
		
		
			 Union Learning Fund 1998/99 12.2 14.2 14.4 14.4 14.4 
			 Adult Learning Inspectorate 2001/02 27.8 27.6 28.2 28.1 28.6 
			 Wellbeing Project 2003/04 1 1 — — — 
			 National College of School Leadership 2001/02 92.6 115.5 99.2 — — 
			 Sector Skills Development Agency 2002/03 34.9 69.7 66.6 61.4 60.2 
			 Office for Fair Access 2005/06 — 0.5 — — — 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.2004/05 figures are latest forecasts of end year expenditure.
	2.2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 figures are indicative only.
	3.Figures for 2006/07 and 2007/08 for the National College of School Leadership have yet to be finalised.
	4.Funding for the Wellbeing Project ends in 2005/06.
	5.Figures for the Adult Learning Inspectorate and the Sector Skills Development Agency in 2006/07 and 2007/08 reflect efficiency savings agreed as part of the review carried out by Sir Peter Gershon.

Bullying

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to deal with bullying in schools.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 31 January 2005
	The Department is deeply concerned about the distress bullying causes and the effect it has on lives and we are determined to help schools tackle the problem. Our guidance pack 'Bullying: Don't Suffer in Silence', the anti-bullying Charter and the anti-bullying website www.dfes.gov.uk/bullying offer detailed advice on preventing and addressing bullying.
	In November 2003 to June 2004 we ran a series of regional conferences, part of the 'Make The Difference' campaign. These conferences, which were well attended, offered an opportunity for schools and other partners to share good practice on this issue and to learn at first hand about what has worked elsewhere. In July 2004 we funded the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), a grouping of voluntary sector organisations, including Childline and the NSPCC. The Alliance works to support schools in addressing bullying behaviour. November 2004 saw the launch of the first ever National Anti-Bullying week which featured a variety of events including a Radio One campaign and a new public information film. An event on countering racist bullying will be taking place in March 2005.

Domestic Violence

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to ensure that (a) regulations, (b) training and (c) the Common Assessment Framework for Information Sharing Databases in Children's Services takes full account of domestic violence and recognises it as a serious child protection issue.

Margaret Hodge: We recognise the importance of ensuring that children are protected from domestic violence. In framing the regulations, guidance and staff training that will govern the operation of information sharing databases, or indexes, we will address protection from domestic violence. This will include the facility for certain details, such as an address, to be blocked out or not to appear on the index at all where a parent has good cause to believe that the inclusion of such information may lead to a crime being committed. It will include ensuring that training for index managers and users covers the right of the child to be protected from harm and the fact that this qualifies the right of a parent to access to information, for example, about a child's current address. We will also ensure that similar issues are addressed as appropriate in the guidance and training for introduction of the Common Assessment Framework.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many and what proportion of those in receipt of education maintenance allowance in England are studying in (a) schools, (b) further education colleges, (c) sixth form colleges, (d) private schools and (e) institutions which are not recognised education providers; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: As of the 6 January 2005 there were 262,823 young people who had received an EMA payment. Of these 167,353 (67.3 per cent.) attended FE colleges and 6th form colleges, 86,054 (32.7 per cent.) attended schools, and 5,443 (2.1 per cent.) were studying in independent and special schools. The remaining 3,973 (1.5 per cent.) students study with a range of institutions including dance and drama schools, outreach providers, charities and specialist institutions.

Education, Youth and Culture Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the outcome was of the Education, Youth and Culture Council held on 15 and 16 November; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: pursuant to his reply, 7 December 2004, Official Report, c. 433W
	I am reporting back on the outcome of the culture session of the Education, Youth and Culture Council, which was attended by Lord McIntosh of Haringey, Minister for Heritage and the Media, on 16 November. My earlier response provided details of the Education and Youth parts of the council only, and indicated that colleagues at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport would be writing to you with a short summary of what happened on the culture part. However, I have since been advised that outcomes of all parts of council meetings should be provided by written parliamentary answer. As the parliamentary question was put down for reply by the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, it is, therefore, appropriate that the reply comes from this Department. I apologise for the delay in providing the information on the culture part of the council.
	During the culture/audiovisual session, Ministers discussed the Commission's proposed 2007–13 culture programme, which will provide funding for cooperation between cultural organisations. Discussion focused on two areas of contention: (a) whether individual sectors should be specifically singled out in the decision and (b) whether and how to enable smaller organisations to participate. The UK submitted a written statement calling for an open programme and bigger projects to ensure the EU-level added value of the programme.
	Ministers adopted a two-year work plan on culture, which will focus on five topics: contribution of culture and audiovisual industries to the Lisbon Agenda; digitisation of cultural heritage; improving the Commission's Culture Portal on the Europa site; mobility of museum collections; and improving the mobility of artists.
	The council approved without discussion the nominations of Dr. Brian Hennessy (Ireland) and Bert van Meggelen (Netherlands) as the council representatives on the European Capitals of Culture selection panel for 2005.
	The council gave unanimous agreement on the mandate authorising the Commission to negotiate on behalf of the EC in negotiations of the draft UNESCO convention on cultural diversity. However the UK, supported by Greece, called for a non-paper to clarify how co-ordination of an EU line would operate in practice to ensure that respective roles and responsibilities of the Commission, the presidency and the member states were clarified. The UK also took the opportunity to emphasise that the final UNESCO convention must not undermine trade negotiations in other international fora.
	Ministers then discussed the Commission's proposed Media 2007 Programme, which provides financial support for the European film industry. Discussions focused on whether the programme should offer more support to television broadcasters and countries with limited film making capabilities.
	The UK submitted a written statement calling for further quantified information on the effectiveness of the programme expenditure in achieving its aims, the establishment of an effective system for monitoring and evaluating the programme, and mechanisms to secure added value at a European level.
	The council agreed without comment a general approach on a Recommendation on Film Heritage, which encourages member states to establish national archives for films.
	The council agreed a general approach on a Recommendation on the Protection of Minors and Right to Reply. Lord McIntosh submitted a minute statement explaining that, while we agreed with the parts of the proposal aimed at improving children's media literacy, the UK objected to the parts of the recommendation which lean in the direction of content regulation of the internet and to applying right to reply to the online environment. Lord McIntosh explained that the UK felt that these elements of the recommendation would work contrary to its overall aim of improving competitiveness in the audiovisual sector.
	During the course of a discussion on Public Service Broadcasting, which was continued over lunch, Lord McIntosh pointed out that the council should not seek to cut across European competition rules.
	Finally, the Luxembourg Minister, Octavie Modert, presented plans for their presidency. She mentioned that they would be looking at intercultural dialogue and cultural tourism and would explore establishing an Anna Lindh foundation. She explained that there would be a culture ministerial on 26–27 June, a seminar on Television without Frontiers in May and a conference on high-definition television in June.

Education, Youth and Culture Council

Michael Connarty: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the outcome was of the Education, Youth and Culture Council held on 15 and 16 November 2004; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if she will make a statement.

Kim Howells: I refer my hon. Friend to the replies given on 7 December 2004, Official Report, column 433W, and today 1 February 2005.

Enterprise Education

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding was allocated by the Government to support enterprise in the curriculum in (a) secondary schools and (b) further education colleges in (i) 2001–02, (ii) 2002–03, (iii)2003–04 and (iv)2004–05 including Enterprise Week in 2004; and if she will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: Over the past two years the Government invested £15 million to over 195 fund enterprise pathfinder projects involving over 700 school and £16 million on the Enterprise Advisers service to help prepare schools in deprived areas for Enterprise Education. In addition, from September 2005 funding of £60 million will provide an Enterprise Education entitlement for all the key stage 4 pupils.
	Funding to support Enterprise Education in Further Education is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council and I have therefore asked Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, to write to my hon. Friend. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.
	The DfES worked closely with Enterprise Insight to support Enterprise Week 2004 in ways other than financial.

Funding

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2005, Official Report, column 819W, on funding, when the cash terms series will be placed in the Library; and what the reasons are for the delay in providing the information.

Stephen Twigg: Due to an administrative error only one of the tables was sent. The information requested has now been placed in the Library and a copy has been sent to the hon. Member.

Pupil Referral Units

Stephen Byers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average cost of providing a pupil with education in a pupil referral unit was in the last year for which figures are available.

Derek Twigg: The average cost of providing a pupil with education in a pupil referral unit in 2002–03 was £10,000.

Rural Areas

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what initiatives her Department has introduced since 2001 to support education in rural areas.

Derek Twigg: The Department for Education and Skills continues to work closely with Defra and the Countryside Agency to support the delivery of education in rural areas.
	Since 2001 guidance for Sure Start Local Programmes has been revised to allow a different approach for rural areas, resulting in the 15 rural Sure Start Local Programmes. Of the 46 mini Sure Start programmes intended to provide services for smaller and more scattered populations, 29 are in rural areas. As part of the first phase of the development of children's centres, we have given additional funds to local authorities containing rural wards to develop flexible ways of delivering children's centre services such as early learning and links to health care services. The Government have been encouraging the development of extended schools. Funding has been available since 2003–04, initially to the most disadvantaged urban and rural areas, but from 2005–06 all LEAs will be receiving funding to support the delivery of extended services in all schools over time.
	The Broadband Grant includes a 'sparsity weighting' to take into account the higher costs of connectivity in rural and hard to reach areas. All schools will have a broadband connection by 2006. We recognise that local schools are at the heart of many rural communities. Guidance to School Organisation Committees on the presumption against the closure of rural schools has been strengthened. We shall be reporting fully on all our activities to the Countryside Agency as part of the annual cycle of rural proofing reporting by the Government.

School Meals

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she expects to complete the Government's commitment to consider introducing nutrient-based standards for school meals as set out in the White Paper, Choosing Health: making healthy choices easier.

Derek Twigg: The review secondary school meal standards will start in February 2005, with draft standards provided for consultation in the autumn and finalised early in 2006. An expert panel will consider how best to tighten up the standards to reduce pupils' intake of sugar, salt and fats, and increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables. We will undertake a full consultation on the panel's recommendations before a final decision is reached on the format of the revised standards.
	An evaluation of primary school meals is underway and the report will be published at the end of 2005. A review of primary school standards will follow, and we intend to introduce revised standards, following a full public consultation, in September 2006.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Speaker's Committee

Gillian Shephard: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, when the Speaker's Committee will next make a report to the House on the exercise by it of its functions.

Peter Viggers: The Speaker's Committee has a statutory obligation to make a report to the House on the exercise by it of its functions at least once in each year. At its meeting on 18 January, the Committee agreed a report to the House (First Report 2005) on its general work over the period from 1 December 2003 to 30 November 2004. This was laid before the House on 27 January and will be published on 2 February as House of Commons Paper No. 255. Copies will be placed in the Library and the Vote Office.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Interviews

Anne Picking: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on his Department's progress in ensuring that the reduction in benefit processing centres as part of rationalisation plans will not impede or hinder access to face-to-face interviews.

Jane Kennedy: As part of the departmental efficiency challenge we are transforming the administration of Jobcentre Plus and the Pension Service, to deliver savings and improve our service to customers. These changes will not impede or hinder access to face-to-face interviews.
	Between now and 2008 the number of sites where Jobcentre Plus processes benefits will be reduced from the present 650 to around 77 larger benefit processing centres. However, when the rollout of Jobcentre Plus is completed in 2006 customers will still have access to services through around 1,000 sites and other channels such as telephone and internet.
	The reduction in the number of sites where benefits are processed will, therefore, not impede access to face-to-face interviews.
	Every customer to Jobcentre Plus benefits has access to a personal adviser at the start of their claim and local offices continue to offer advice and information on work and benefits. In some locations services are also delivered through third party premises and provision has been made for customer access telephones in a number of locations.
	The Pension Service will move from the current network of pension centres to at least 12 modernised processing sites. These sites have been chosen from the existing network of pension centres and customers will be able to access information through existing channels, including telephone and the internet. In addition, the Local Service of the Pension Service will continue to provide a nationally managed face to face service at venues convenient to its customers.

Benefits

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individuals were in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit, (b) disability living allowance, (c) attendance allowance, (d) carer's allowance and (e) child benefit in Southend-on-Sea in (i) 1980, (ii) 1990, (iii) 2000 and (iv) 2004.

Maria Eagle: Figures broken down by local authority are not available for any of these benefits prior to 2000. In the case of carer's allowance and child benefit, no such breakdown is available prior to 2001.
	Child benefit figures are now published by Inland Revenue and are not yet available for 2004.
	The available information is in the following table. Benefit recipients in Southend-on-Sea at dates shown.
	
		Number
		
			 Benefit August 2000 August 2004 
		
		
			 Incapacity benefit and severe  disablement allowance 6,000 6,900 
			 Disability living allowance 4,400 6,200 
			 Attendance allowance 4,500 5,100 
			 Carer's allowance n/a 1,745 
		
	
	n/a = not available
	Notes:
	1.Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. The figures include incapacity benefit credits-only cases.
	2.Disability living allowance and attendance Allowance figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. A change in methodology from 2002 means that, after that date, there is a small increase in case loads due to some terminated cases being included.
	3.Carer's allowance figures are rounded to the nearest five. The figure includes those entitled to carer's allowance but not receiving it due to overlapping benefit rules.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 5 per cent. data, except carer's allowance which is 100 per cent. data.

Benefits

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims for incapacity benefit were denied on the grounds of insufficient national insurance payments in the last two years for which figures are available.

Maria Eagle: The information is in the following table.
	
		Incapacity benefit claims disallowed due to failing the contribution conditions
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 January to December 2004 332,430 
			 January to December 2003 340,440 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Figures have been rounded to the nearest five.
	2.Figures are for disallowed at outset" cases, these are cases where the claimant has failed the contribution conditions for incapacity benefit. However these claims could still result in an award of incapacity benefit credits-only.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. counts.

Lone Parents

Mark Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the number of lone parents in Stoke-on-Trent in each of the past three years;
	(2)  what the total expenditure on the New Deal for Lone Parents in Stoke-on-Trent has been in each year that the scheme has been in operation;
	(3)  what proportion of lone parents in Stoke-on-Trent have successfully applied for payments under the New Deal for Lone Parents in each year that the scheme has been in operation.

Jane Kennedy: Information on New Deal expenditure is only available at national level. The latest available information on the number of lone parents in Stoke-on-Trent is taken from the 2001 census. Out of 103,196 households in Stoke-on-Trent, 7.7 per cent. were lone parent households with dependant children.
	The available information relating to lone parents in Stoke-on-Trent who have received a New Deal for Lone Parents related payment is in the table.
	
		Number of people on New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) in Stoke-on-Trent who have received a NDLP related payment
		
			October-September  Total number of people starting NDLP Of which, recorded as receiving an NDLP related payment 
		
		
			 1998–99 310 20 
			 1999–2000 390 10 
			 2000–01 400 30 
			 2001–02 510 20 
			 2002–03 540 10 
			 2003–04 580 0 
			 Total 2,730 90 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Figures include information for the three Stoke-on-Trent parliamentary constituencies (Stoke-on-Trent, North, Stoke-on-Trent, Central and Stoke-on-Trent, South).
	2.Payments include training premium payments, childcare subsidy and child care costs and course fee and equipment payments.
	3.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	New Deal Evaluation Database

New Deal

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of clients of the new deal programmes have left to go into employment, broken down by region; and what proportion of those who do so are still in work or have not returned to the claimant register (a) three months later, (b) six months later and (c) a year later, broken down by region.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 25 January 2005
	Information is not available on the length of time individuals have spent in jobs gained through new deal.
	Available information on the proportion of new deal participants not claiming a working age benefit after gaining a job is in the following tables.
	
		New deal for young people
		
			  Leavers Of which, to employment Proportion of those leaving to employment who have not claimed a subsequent working age benefit within the stated periods (percentage) 
			 Jobcentre plus region Number Number Proportion (percentage) 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months 
		
		
			 Scotland 82,660 31,020 38 89 70 54 
			 North East 55,400 21,820 39 91 74 58 
			 North West 100,160 38,650 39 90 74 59 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 79,300 30,860 39 91 75 60 
			 Wales 44,380 18,390 41 89 72 58 
			 West Midlands 78,170 26,900 34 91 76 61 
			 East Midlands 43,970 17,510 40 91 74 60 
			 East of England 35,440 14,600 41 91 76 63 
			 South East 40,750 16,500 40 91 76 63 
			 London 107,040 33,340 31 93 80 67 
			 South West 38,650 17,330 45 91 76 63 
			 Great Britain 705,990 266,960 38 91 75 61 
		
	
	
		New deal 25 plus
		
			  Leavers Of which, to employment Proportion of those leaving to employment who have not claimed a subsequent working age benefit within the stated periods (percentage) 
			 Jobcentre plus region Number Number Proportion (percentage) 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months 
		
		
			 Scotland 51,080 8,530 17 85 67 52 
			 North East 35,230 5,600 16 86 70 55 
			 North West 56,040 10,100 18 85 70 55 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 49,330 8,500 17 87 71 57 
			 Wales 22,440 3,800 17 85 69 55 
			 West Midlands 45,750 7,920 17 87 72 58 
			 East Midlands 27,820 4,950 18 86 70 57 
			 East of England 26,050 5,480 21 86 72 60 
			 South East 31,700 6,540 21 87 72 60 
			 London 87,320 15,160 17 88 76 63 
			 South West 23,310 5,370 23 87 73 60 
			 Great Britain 458,180 82,430 18 86 72 58 
		
	
	
		New deal for lone parents
		
			  Leavers Of which, to employment Proportion of those leaving to employment who have not claimed a subsequent working age benefit within the stated periods (percentage) 
			 Jobcentre plus region Number Number Proportion (percentage) 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months 
		
		
			 Scotland 39,580 21,440 54 90 80 69 
			 North East 23,510 13,070 56 91 79 70 
			 North West 56,930 30,010 53 92 82 73 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 38,080 21,750 57 92 82 73 
			 Wales 24,480 14,210 58 91 81 72 
			 West Midlands 34,840 17,580 50 92 83 74 
			 East Midlands 22,330 12,440 56 93 84 75 
			 East of England 24,080 12,880 54 93 85 77 
			 South East 38,630 19,610 51 93 85 77 
			 London 46,560 18,440 40 93 86 78 
			 South West 32,040 17,940 56 93 85 76 
			 Great Britain 381,150 199,440 52 92 83 74 
		
	
	
		New deal for disabled people
		
			  Gained a job Proportion of those gaining a job who have not claimed a subsequent working age benefit within the stated periods (percentage) 
			 Jobcentre plus region Number 3 Months 6 Months 12 Months 
		
		
			 Scotland 1,540 86 78 66 
			 North East 1,910 83 76 65 
			 North West 1,930 86 79 70 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 650 92 85 76 
			 Wales 2,660 87 78 69 
			 West Midlands 680 89 84 75 
			 East Midlands 810 88 83 73 
			 East of England 580 90 85 77 
			 South East 840 90 85 76 
			 London 860 86 79 71 
			 South West 2,260 88 81 72 
			 Great Britain 14,830 87 80 70 
		
	
	
		New deal 50 plus
		
			 Jobcentre plus region Received new deal 50 plus employment credit: April 2000 to March 2003 Recorded job entries April 2003 to October 2004 
		
		
			 Scotland 12,180 5,430 
			 North East 6,360 2,340 
			 North West 12,710 4,600 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 10,660 4,000 
			 Wales 7,290 2,400 
			 West Midlands 9,940 4,000 
			 East Midlands 7,290 2,130 
			 East of England 6,880 2,480 
			 South East 7,740 2,790 
			 London 7,750 3,840 
			 South West 9,180 2,810 
			 Great Britain 98,040 37,410 
		
	
	
		New deal for partners
		
			 Jobcentre plus region Gaining a job 
		
		
			 Scotland 60 
			 North East 20 
			 North West 50 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 40 
			 Wales 30 
			 West Midlands 30 
			 East Midlands 20 
			 East of England 20 
			 South East 30 
			 London 40 
			 South West 40 
			 Great Britain 1,870 
		
	
	Notes:
	1.Information for new deal for young people, new deal 25 plus and new deal for lone parents covers leavers from these programmes between July 1999 to March 2003.
	2.Information for new deal for disabled people relates to people gaining a job and is from the start of the programme in July 2001 to March 2003.
	Information is not available on numbers leaving the programme.
	3.Information is not available on the length of time new deal 50 plus leavers have not claimed a benefit. Information provided is on those gaining a job and receiving the new deal 50 plus employment credit up to March 2003, and recorded job entries from April 2003 to October 2004.
	4.Information is not available on the length of time new deal for partners leavers have not claimed a benefit. National information for new deal for partners (on jobs gained) is for the period May 1999 (start of the programme) to March 2004. A regional breakdown is only available for the period April 2002 to March 2004.
	5.Information is taken from the DWP Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study which contains all benefit claims that can be linked to the records on the New Deal Evaluation Database. These records currently cover the period July 1999 to March 2004.
	6.The period July 1999 to March 2003 has been used for information provided on leavers from new deal for young people, new deal 25 plus and new deal for lone parents, and people gaining a job through new deal for disabled people, to allow a full 12 month period to elapse before subsequent benefit claims.
	7.The proportion not claiming a subsequent benefit does not include people who continued an existing benefit claim which started before the start of the job and continued after the job start.
	8.The working age benefits referred to are: jobseeker's allowance, income support, incapacity benefit, severe disability allowance, invalid carer's allowance, bereavement benefit, and widow's/widower's benefit.
	9.All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	DWP Information and Analysis Directorate.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

House Building (Southend-on-Sea)

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many houses have been built in Southend-on-Sea in each year since 1980; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The annual numbers of new build completions reported for Southend-on-Sea since 1981 are tabled as follows:
	
		
			  Completions 
		
		
			 1981 290 
			 1982 210 
			 1983 443 
			 1984 447 
			 1986 403 
			 1987 402 
			 1988 249 
			 1989 648 
			 1990 539 
			 1991 402 
			 1992 395 
			 1993 410 
			 1994 288 
			 1995 248 
			 1996 241 
			 1997 154 
			 1998 187 
			 1999 153 
			 2000 152 
			 2001 122 
			 2002 128 
			 2003 120

Referendum

Oliver Heald: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidelines have been issued by his Department concerning whether a referendum on (a) whether to adopt a directly elected mayor and (b) a local issue held under the Local Government Act 2003 may be held at the same time as a (i) general election and (ii) local election; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: Guidelines on the combination of a referendum on whether to adopt a directly elected mayor with a parliamentary or local election, have been issued in the New Council Constitutions Guidance, chapter 13. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has issued no such guidance in respect of holding a local referendum.

Right-to-Buy

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proposals he has for giving a right to buy to tenants of registered social landlords; and on what terms.

Keith Hill: The Right to Buy and Right to Acquire schemes, which enable eligible housing association tenants to buy their home, will continue as modified by the Housing Act 2004.
	The Government plans to make it easier for all social tenants, including housing association tenants, to buy a home through a new offer—the Choice to own. Details are set out in Sustainable Communities Homes for all"—the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Five Year Plan—published on 24 January.
	The proposals include a new Homebuy scheme to help housing association and local authority tenants to buy a stake in their homes that can be increased over time. We will encourage social landlords to offer the scheme, which will be voluntary, as widely as possible. We plan to consult on further details by Easter and have the scheme running by April 2006.

Ropetackle Site (Shoreham)

Tim Loughton: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 17 January 2005, Official Report, column 765W, on South East England Development Agency, if he will break down the £3,421,562 budget for the development of the Ropetackle site in Shoreham-by-Sea by category referred to; on what criteria the decision to provide a community and arts facility was made; what the evidential basis is for his statement that the section 106 agreement provided for a community and arts facility only completed to shell finish; and whether this was altered by subsequent agreements concerning the eventual square footage of the facility.

Yvette Cooper: The £3,421,562 budget for the development of the Ropetackle site in Shoreham-by-Sea by category is broken down in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 Site acquisitions 1,200,000 
			 Professional/legal fees 150,000 
			 Site works/reclamation 1,850,486 
			 Other capital costs/service diversions 221,076 
			 Total 3,421,562 
		
	
	On what criteria was the decision to provide a community and arts facility made? The facility was required under Deed of Agreement (Pursuant to Section 106 Town and Country Planning Act 1990) dated 10 December 2002 in accordance with Adur district council's planning brief for the site.
	What the evidential basis is for his statement that the section 106 agreement provided for a community and arts facility only completed to shell finish: The definition of the 'Community Facility' states 'completed to shell finish'—page 6 of the Deed of Agreement (Pursuant to Section 106 Town and Country Planning Act 1990) dated 10 December 2002.
	Was this altered by subsequent agreements concerning the eventual square footage of the facility? Discussions are ongoing to establish a subsequent agreement between SEEDA and Adur district council. This agreement will allow for part of the Community Facilities to be incorporated into a development for an Enterprise Centre, which will provide premises for new and growing businesses in Shoreham. In return SEEDA will contribute towards the fitting-out of the remaining Community Facilities.

Southend Borough Council

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he and the Minister of State for Local and Regional Government will meet a delegation from Southend-on-Sea borough council to discuss the 2005–06 financial settlement.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister made clear, in the letter dated 2 December to local authorities on the provisional local government finance settlement 2005–06, that Ministers would not meet individual authorities this year during consultation on the Government's proposals. This follows the practice in recent years when no significant changes to the formula have been made. I have also subsequently made this clear in correspondence with Southend-on-Sea borough council. However, I can confirm that we carefully considered all written representations received during the consultation period, including those made by, or on behalf of, Southend-on-Sea.
	I met with major groups representing local authorities including the Local Government Association and a group representing the interests of unitary authorities during the consultation process. Southend-on-Sea was represented in that delegation.
	I laid before the House on 27 January, the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2005–06. MPs can debate this report in the House on Wednesday 2 February.

Southend Borough Council

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has received with regard to Southend-on-Sea's financial settlement for 2005–06; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Raynsford: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received three letters from Howard Briggs, leader of Southend-on-Sea borough council. Ministers have replied to the first two letters and will reply to the third in due course. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has also received a letter on behalf of the council from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend, East (Sir Teddy Taylor) dated 6 January, to which a reply has also been sent.
	I laid before the House on 27 January, the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2005–06. MPs can debate this report in the House on Wednesday 2 February.

Welsh Language Scheme

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether his Department's Welsh language scheme was approved by the Welsh Language Board; and on what date the scheme was implemented.

Yvette Cooper: The former Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions agreed a scheme with the Welsh Language Board that was published on 17 July 2001.
	Following machinery of Government changes in May 2002, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has continued to operate a Welsh language scheme on this basis. An updated version will be published later this year.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcohol-related Offences (Stoke-on-Trent)

Mark Fisher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many alcohol-related violent offences have been reported in Stoke on Trent in each year since 1997; and how many have led to (a) prosecution and (b) conviction.

Hazel Blears: From the information collected on recorded crime and court proceedings, it is not possible to identify those violent offences which are alcohol-related. Such offences are not specifically defined by statute and details of the individual circumstances of offences do not feature in either data series.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders (Gloucestershire)

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the effectiveness of antisocial behaviour orders in Gloucestershire.

Hazel Blears: Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) are one of a number of tools being used in Gloucestershire as part of their local strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour. Local practitioners have taken a robust stance against antisocial behaviour and report that ASBOs have been effectively used alongside other interventions such as mediation and referral to treatment drug and alcohol programmes.
	17 ASBOs were granted in Gloucestershire between April 1999 and June 2004 (latest figures available).
	Local people should be encouraged to support agencies by identifying and reporting ASBO breaches. The Together Academy, Action Line and website are able to advise local agencies on how to work together to ensure the effective use of ASBOs.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders (Gloucestershire)

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for extensions to existing antisocial behaviour orders have been (a) granted and (b) refused in Gloucestershire.

Hazel Blears: For antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued within Gloucestershire, up to 30 June 2004 (latest available), the Home Office has not been notified of any applications that have resulted in extending the duration of an existing order.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders (Gloucestershire)

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders have been breached in Gloucestershire; and what action has been taken against those breaching the orders.

Hazel Blears: Data on the number of breaches of an antisocial behaviour order (ASBO), taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database, are currently available for the period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2002. Persons breaching on more than one occasion during the period are counted once only based on the breach incurring the severest penalty.
	Of the five ASBOs issued, as notified to the Home Office, within Gloucestershire for the above period, one person breached and received a detention and training order.
	Data on ASBOs breached during 2003 are due to be released shortly.

Asylum Seekers

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of initial asylum applications received from 1 August 2003 were dealt with in the target time of 13 weeks from receipt of application.

Des Browne: 88 per cent. of applications (excluding withdrawals and third country cases 1 ) received in August 2003 to June 2004 had initial decisions reached and served within 13 weeks.
	The latest published information on the Home Office Public Service Agreement for 2003–04, ensuring that 75 per cent. of substantive asylum applications are decided within two months show that: 82 per cent. of applications (excluding withdrawals and third country cases 1 ) received in 2003–04 (April 2003 to March 2004) had initial decisions reached and served within two months, 90 per cent. within four months and 94 per cent. within six months (compared with 75 per cent., 85 per cent. and 88 per cent. respectively for 2002–03).
	84 per cent. of applications received in Q2 (April to June) 2004 had initial decisions reached and served within two months, compared with 83 per cent. for Q1 (January to March) 2004.
	Information on the timeliness of initial decisions is published quarterly on the Home Office website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	1 Cases which may be the responsibility of other EU member states under the L Convention.

Catterick Barracks Inquiry

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many files the Yorkshire police has re-opened in the past year concerning deaths at Catterick Barracks.

Hazel Blears: North Yorkshire police advise that no files have been re-opened in the last 12 months concerning deaths at Catterick Garrison. During that period, two new cases of death in Catterick Garrison were investigated by north Yorkshire police and both resulted in the production of reports to the coroner.

CCTV

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much money has been allocated for CCTV cameras in Warrington in each year since 1997.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 20 January 2005
	Since 1997, the Home Office has allocated £31,700 towards a mobile CCTV system in Warrington to ensure full coverage of the system across the town under the Closed Circuit Television initiatives, which formed part of the Crime Reduction Programme. This payment was made in the financial year 2001–02.
	Since the completion of the Crime Reduction Programme, crime reduction funding has been allocated directly to the local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership through the Building Safer Communities fund and to Basic Command Unit (BCU) Commanders through the BCU fund. These funding streams finance a variety of interventions, including CCTV, to tackle local crime priorities. Exactly how funding is allocated across the area is the responsibility of Warrington borough council and the Greater Manchester police.

CCTV

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much public funding has been spent on CCTV security cameras in Bolton, North-East since 1997.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office has provided a total of £518,791 to Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council (which includes Bolton, North-East) under the Close Circuit Television initiatives, which formed part of the Crime Reduction Programme which ran from 1999–2002.

Child Sex Offences

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the rate of conviction in cases where the defendant was charged with child sex offences was in the most recent period for which figures are available; and what the rate of conviction in cases where the defendant is charged with child sex offences wheresimilar fact evidence was introduced was in that period.

Paul Goggins: Statistics of defendants charged with crimes are not collected centrally. The number of defendants proceeded against and convicted for sexual offences for 2003 are provided in the table, together with conviction rates.
	It is not possible from the statistics collected to identify those defendants proceeded against, where similar fact evidence was introduced, as these circumstances are not collected centrally.
	Statistics for 2004 will be published in autumn next year.
	
		Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and sentenced at all courts for sexual offences(9) etc. against minors where the age of the victim is identified by the offence, 2003—England and Wales
		
			 Offence Proceeded against Found guilty Conviction rate (percentage)(10) 
		
		
			 Sexual offences involving minors(11)
			 Buggery by a male of a male under 16 49 42 86 
			 Buggery by a male aged 21 or over with a male aged 16 or 17 — — — 
			 Buggery by a male aged 18–20 with a male aged 16 or 17 — — — 
			 Buggery by a male with a female under 16 10 5 50 
			 Buggery by a male aged 21 or over with a female aged 16 or 17 — — — 
			 Buggery by a male aged 18–20 with a female aged 16 or 17 — — — 
			 Indecent assault on male person under 16 years 419 264 63 
			 Gross indecency by a male aged 21 or over with a male aged under 18 1 — — 
			 Gross indecency by a male aged 18–20 with a male aged under 18 — — — 
			 Rape of a female aged under 16 1,037 254 24 
			 Rape of a male aged under 16 114 29 25 
			 Attempted rape of a female aged under 16 97 35 36 
			 Attempted rape of a male aged under 16 17 8 47 
			 Indecent assault on a female under 16 1,956 1,206 62 
			 Unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 13 71 49 69 
			 Unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 16 185 248 134 
			 Incest with a girl under 13 10 9 90 
			 Inciting girl under 16 to have incestuous sexual intercourse 3 2 67 
			 Householder permitting unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 16 — — — 
			 Person responsible for girl under 16 causing or encouraging her prostitution etc. — — — 
			 Male aged 21 or over procuring or attempting to procure a male under 18 of gross  indecency with another male — — — 
			 Abduction of unmarried girl under 16 7 2 29 
			 Abduction of unmarried girl under 18 1 — — 
			 Gross indecency with boys aged less than 16 146 91 62 
			 Gross indecency with girls aged less than 16 283 190 67 
			 Total 4,406 2,434 55 
		
	
	(9)Principal offence basis.
	(10)Proportion of defendants proceeded against who were found guilty.
	(11)Excludes those sexual offences where the age of the victim cannot be identified in the wording of the offence.
	Source:
	RDS—Office For Criminal Justice Reform

Children in Prison

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women serving a prison sentence have their children with them in prison; and how many children are with mothers in prison.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service provides places in Mother and Baby Units for infants up to about 18months old. On 13 December 2004, there were 51mothers and 50 babies in those Units.

Conferences

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many conferences were (a) attended by officials from his Department, (b) cancelled by and (c) facilitated by his Department in each year since 1997; and what the (i) cost to the Department and (ii) location was in each case.

Fiona Mactaggart: Records for this subject are not held centrally and the information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Correspondence

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter of 28 October from the hon. Member for North Norfolk, regarding the costs of surveys into public perceptions of the Home Office undertaken by and on behalf of the Home Office over the past year.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 13 December 2004
	I replied to the hon. Member on 6 December 2004.

Correspondence

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons Vivien Hamilton of his office asked the hon. Member for Thurrock on 16 December to return to the Department the letter of 2 December from the Minister of State to the hon. Member in order to reply to question 206327 tabled by the hon. Member on 15 December; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 10 January 2005
	Vivien Hamilton works in the Direct Communications Unit which deals with all forms of customer communications including the tracing of missing correspondence.
	The letter of 2 December referred to in my hon. Friend's earlier question could not be found on the Department's central correspondence tracking system. In these circumstances it is normal practice to ask my hon. Friend's office if they can provide a copy of the letter to assist in tracing the correspondence, and to identify the person best placed to provide a reply to the question.
	On this particular occasion, it was discovered that the missing correspondence had been handled directly by my private office.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State forthe Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter dated 15 November 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. K. Gelani;
	(2)  when he intends to answer the letter dated 15 November 2004 from the Right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. K. Gelani.

Charles Clarke: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 25 January 2005.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 1 November 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Lily Beverley.

Charles Clarke: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 1 February 2005.

Correspondence

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many letters his Department received from members of the general public in the United Kingdom during the year 2004.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office's central Direct Communications Unit received 25,259 letters and 10,530 e-mails from members of the general public in 2004.
	The figures include cases transferred to other Government Departments, and agencies other than HM Prison Service.
	Because they are not recorded, the figures do not include:
	correspondence sent direct to named officials or units
	correspondence sent to the Immigration and Nationality Department, who are currently looking to establish a method of recording public correspondence
	correspondence sent to HM Prison Service
	campaign" correspondence where more than 50 identical communications were received
	items to which no reply was sent due to lack of return address
	items to which no reply was sent due to the offensive or threatening nature of the correspondence.

Correspondence

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister of State for Crime Reduction, Policing and Community Safety will reply to the letter of 14 October from the hon. Member for Southend, west.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 18 January 2005
	Ianswered the hon. Member's concerns in my reply to his parliamentary question on 3 November 2004. I have, in addition, replied in a letter dated 1 February 2005.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated (a) 29 November 2004 with regard to (i) Ms Yulima Vicentre Vidal and (ii) Dr. A. R. Estabragh, (b) 17 November 2004 with regard to Ms Thembalani Chinyoka, (c) 1 November 2004 with regard to Lily Beverley and (d) 18 November 2004 with regard to Mr.Shaban Kurkala.

Charles Clarke: The information is as follows:
	(a) (i) and (ii) I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 28 January 2005.
	(b) I wrote to my right hon. Friend 19 January 2005.
	(c) I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 1 February 2005.
	(d) I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 14 January 2005.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 22 November from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to the Roby.

Charles Clarke: I wrote to my right hon. Friend on 21 January 2005.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the letter dated 6 December 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Saima Manzoor Ahmed.

Charles Clarke: I replied to my right hon. Friend on 11 January 2005.

Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes involving violence against the person there were in each crime and disorder reduction partnership area in England and Wales in each year since the partnerships were established.

Hazel Blears: The requested information is published annually in Home Office Statistical Bulletins on recorded crime. All these publications are available on the Home Office website. The appropriate links are as follows:
	Data for 2002–03 and 2003–04:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/cdrptabs.xls
	Data for 2000–01 and 2001–02:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hosb702chap7.xls (Table 7.06)
	Data for 1999–2000:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs/1200data2.xls (Table 7)

Curfew Orders

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, 
	(1)  what the cost of purchasing theelectronic monitoring kit used for home detention curfew orders is;
	(2)  what the total annual cost was of the home detention curfew electronic monitoring kit in the last financial year for which figures are available; and how many kits were available for use in that year;
	(3)  what the average cost is of a call out following a violation of an electronic monitoring device.

Paul Goggins: The Home Office pays one total price to each electronic monitoring supplier for the delivery of a complete electronic monitoring service. The price varies according to the volume of offenders being monitored. It includes the provision of a monitoring centre, field staff and other items, as well as the lease of the equipment. The cost of the equipment, and of visits to investigate violations, is not separately identified.
	In the year 2003–04 the total cost of the service was £81 million. A total of 46,472 people were monitored in all categories and a total of 18,586 sets of electronic monitoring equipment were made available during that period.

Curfew Orders

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many curfew orders with electronic monitoring conditions were breached in each of the last three financial years, broken down by probation area.

Paul Goggins: Information about breaches of curfew orders with electronic monitoring in each probation area is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, this information will be available when new electronic monitoring contracts start to operate in April 2005.

Departmental Advertising

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has held with the devolved Administrations on the content, frequency and timing of television advertising placed by his Department on UK-wide satellite television channels.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office Marketing and Strategic Communication Unit have held a number of informal meetings over the last year with colleagues in the Scottish Executive to discuss forthcoming communication plans.
	The unit has also discussed a number of forthcoming campaign issues with their counterparts in the Welsh Assembly.

Departmental Costs/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) new builds, (b) demolition rebuilds and (c) PFI projects in his Department in each of the last two years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The estimated cost of new builds (including demolition where required) and PFI projects over the last two years is as follows:
	
		£ million
		
			  New builds and demolition re-builds  PFI projects 
		
		
			 2003–04 213. 5 92. 0 
			 2004–05 197. 7 183. 2 
		
	
	The PFI costs include fees, IT cabling and furniture where appropriate. New builds exclude leased developments, fees and other costs. Both exclude VAT. PFI costs are an indication of developers' approximate costs as these are not paid by the Department. 2004–05 is estimated out-turn to 31 January 2005.

Departmental Costs/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his estimate is of the (a) annual cost and (b) total value of the empty properties owned by (i) his Department, (ii) his agencies and (iii) other public bodies for which he has had responsibility in each of the last two years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office, including its executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies currently have a number of vacant freehold properties comprising surplus sites, former probation offices, and former prison officer housing.
	
		£
		
			   Organisation Total existing use value Current annual running cost excluding any internal capital charges 
		
		
			 Home Office 8,668,000 401,000 
			 Prison Service 6,314,000 No central records kept 
		
	
	The properties are vacant pending disposal either on the open market or to other Government Departments. Historic records are not kept in respect of vacant properties.

Departmental Costs/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for theHome Department what the cost of refurbishing each ministerial private office was in the last two years.

Fiona Mactaggart: Expenditure mainly on essential alterations to allow internal re-organisation of Ministers' offices including meeting rooms, with some simultaneous improvements totalled £15,624 in 2003–04 and will be nil in 2004–05 excluding VAT.

Departmental Costs/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost was of (a) in-house canteen and (b) other catering services provided by his Department in each of the last two years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The subsidy in financial year 2002–03 was £179,000, and in 2003–04 £179,966. This was paid for the provision of catering and catering services to the Home Office's main central London estate which includes two restaurants and two snack bars/coffee shops.

Departmental Costs/Expenditure

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total external spending by his Department was on public private partnership (PPP) consultants in each of the last two years; how many full-time equivalent consultants were employed over this period; how many billed consultancy days there were per year; what the implied average cost of each PPP consultant was; how many consultancy firms were used by his Department over this period; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: From the available information held by the Home Office total external expenditure on public private partnership (PPP) consultants in each of the last two years, the number of full time equivalent consultants employed in the period, the number of billed consultancy days there were per year, the implied average cost of each PPP consultants and how many consultancy firms were used over the period is as follows:
	
		
			  2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Criminal Records Bureau   
			 Total external spend on consultants (£) 2,007,500 1,284,630 
			 Number of full-time equivalent consultants employed — — 
			 Number of billed consultancy days — — 
			 Implied average cost of each PFI consultant — — 
			 Number of consultancy firms used 6 8 
			
			 Airwave   
			 Total external spend on consultants (£) 713,000 368,000 
			 Number of full-time equivalent consultants employed 3.5 3 
			 Number of billed consultancy days 781 495 
			 Implied average cost of each PFI consultant  (£ per day) 950 1,032 
			 Number of consultancy firms used 14 11

Departmental Costs/Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many gyms are available to staff in the Department; and what the cost of providing them was in the last year for which figures are available.

Fiona Mactaggart: In the Home Office there are two gyms available to staff—one in central London and one in Croydon. These are both self-funding through Home Office sports and social staff clubs. The only cost to the Department for these facilities is the provision of accommodation.
	The prison service provides gyms in all its 136 establishments for prisoners to use. These facilities are available for prison service staff to use when prisoners are not using them.
	The new Home Office headquarters building at Marsham street will have a sports and recreation facility available for staff to use, which will be self-funding.

Departmental Files

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether it is the policy of the Department to retain for the benefit of future (a) historians and (b) applicants under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 the same (i) complete categories of files, (ii) numbers of files and (iii) representative examples of files from categories of files destroyed as had been preserved prior to the passage of that Act.

Fiona Mactaggart: In accordance with the Public Records Act 1958 S.3, the selection of records of enduring historical value for permanent preservation at The National Archives (TNA) will continue to take place in the Home Office under the guidance and supervision of TNA staff. The Department will also comply with the Code of Practice on Records Management, issued by the Lord Chancellor under S.46of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which underlines the importance of having clear selection policies and disposal schedules in place.

Departmental Files

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many departmental files have been destroyed in each of the past five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: In accordance with its selection policies and disposal schedules, the Department has destroyed the following number of files in each of the last five years:
	
		
			  Files destroyed 
		
		
			 2000 47,139 
			 2001 128,621 
			 2002 112,855 
			 2003 123,746 
			 2004 (To date) 130,576 
		
	
	The quantity of files destroyed increases because the department continues to create large volumes of paper records, notably in case files, which once they reach the end of their business life are automatically destroyed. The use of disposal schedules setting out when files can be destroyed will continue to be applied to ensure the department only keeps those records that it needs, or that it has agreed with The National Archives should be held for permanent preservation.

Departmental Files

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes have been promulgated in each of the past five years to the guidelines or other criteria for the retention or destruction of departmental files.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office has maintained a consistent approach to the retention and destruction of files. The requirements to keep records of Government business are set out in the Public Record Act. The National Archive (TNA) produces guidance that further details the requirement so that only material of historical significance is held and transferred to it for permanent preservation. That guidance sets out how long different types of record should be held for and a process for scheduling disposal. The Department has consistently followed this guidance to ensure that records are held for as long as required to meet business needs, that ephemeral material is then destroyed and that only material of long term historic value is transferred to TNA.
	Since 1999, the Home Office has produced 86 schedules for the disposal of records which are specific to its administrative activities. It also disposes of its records in accordance with over twenty guidance notes produced by The National Archives (TNA) over the last five years, covering disposal schedules, managing records in the electronic environment, as well as overarching record management guidance. Further details of this guidance can be found on TNA's website at:
	http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/recordsmanagement/advice .

Departmental Pay

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the gender pay gap among staff in his Department.

Fiona Mactaggart: In 2002 the Department undertook equal pay reviews of its pay systems and provided reports to the Cabinet Office by April 2003. A copy of the non-Agency Home Office 2002 Equal Pay Review Action Plan has been placed in the Library.
	Since these reviews were undertaken, the Department has since carried out annual equal pay audits of its pay awards and these are shared with employee representatives.

Departmental Properties

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many properties are held by the Department; what total floor space these properties provide; how many properties are vacant; and how much floor space vacant properties comprise.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office and its agencies hold 2,103 properties which have a combined floor area of 4,380,305 sq m. These comprise offices, residential accommodation, prisons and other specialised buildings.
	The figures exclude premises that are held under service agreements and those where costs are shared with other Government Departments where the other Department pays the rent. The total number of properties include both leased and owned residential properties but as the floor areas of this type of property are not known residential floor area figures have been excluded.
	Within these figures the Department currently has 109 vacant freehold and leasehold properties which have a total floor area of 31,002 sq m. These comprise surplus sites, former probation offices, former prison officer housing and a former prison.
	These properties are held pending disposal either on the open market or to other Government Departments.

Departmental Staff

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the staff employed by his Department have a declared disability.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the civil service by Department. These include data on the number of staff who have a declared disability. The latest information at April 2004 is available in the Library and on the civil service website and the following address:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_information/statistical_information/statistics/publications/xls/disability_apr04_4nov04.xls

Departmental Staff

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women there are in senior positions in his Department.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Cabinet Office collects and publishes annually statistical information on the civil service by Department. These include data on the number of women in senior positions in Departments and on the number of staff who have a declare disability.
	The latest available information at April 2004 is available in the Library and on the civil service website and the following addresses:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/management_information/statistical_information/statistics/publications/xls/gender_apr04_4nov04.xls

Domestic Burglary

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the detection rates for domestic burglary in the Greater London area were in each of the last three years.

Hazel Blears: The clear up rate for domestic burglary offences recorded in the Greater London region was nine per cent. in 2001–02,12 per cent. in 2002–03 and 10 per cent. in 2003–04.

EC Legislation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the (a) transfer to qualified majority voting and (b) UK participation in the items listed in Council Decision 2004/927/EC, OJ L396 of 31 December 2004; and by what mechanism Parliament is notified of such changes in legislative mechanism.

Des Browne: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Council Decision provides for certain areas covered by Title IV of Part Three of the treaty establishing the European Community to be governed by the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the treaty. That procedure provides for qualified majority voting in the Council and the application of the co-decision procedure in the European Parliament. The move to QMV and co- decision is not new. The treaty of Amsterdam, in force since 1999, provided that five years after its entry into force, member states would take a unanimous decision to move some or all immigration and asylum measures to QMV and co-decision. Within the Nice treaty, in force since 2003, member states adopted a declaration slightly amending the Amsterdam arrangements. The move to QMV and co-decision for asylum measures became automatic, once common rules and basic principles had been agreed. Member states reaffirmed that they would endeavour to move remaining immigration measures, or parts of them, to QMV and co-decision from 1 May 2004 or as soon as possible thereafter.
	(b) The Government supported the move to qualified majority voting because EU co-operation on asylum and immigration issues over the last five years has been valuable to the UK and we are keen to see measures in this area adopted without the delays experienced under unanimous voting in a Council of 25 member states. The Council decision has no effect on the UK's Title IV protocol, negotiated at Amsterdam. We will continue to be able to opt-in to immigration and asylum measures which are in the UK's interest. The decision also does not affect the UK's frontiers protocol, which allows us to maintain our own border controls.
	(c) Parliament is notified of developments in EU legislation via correspondence between the lead Government Department and the European Scrutiny Committees in the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The draft Council Decision, along with an explanatory memorandum, was deposited in Parliament on 15 November 2004. A subsequent addendum to the draft Council Decision was submitted on 25 November. The Council Decision was debated in European Standing Committee B on 13 December. Both Committees cleared the document from scrutiny during December. The decision took effect on 1 January 2005 having been adopted on 22 December 2004.

EC Legislation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on Council Decision 2004/926/EC of 22 December 2004; and when this proposed change to UK treaty obligations was reported to Parliament.

Caroline Flint: Following Council Decision 2004/926/EC, the UK has now commenced the judicial co- operation, drugs co-operation, obligations on carriers, measures to combat trafficking of human beings and police co-operation parts of the Schengen acquis. The UK will now formally be able to benefit from enhanced police and judicial co-operation powers with Schengen partners.
	The UK's application to participate (8562/99) was deposited in Parliament as was the draft Council Decision on the UK's participation. The legislative basisfor participation in these provisions was included in the Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003. Following a successful evaluation, the Council Decision on the partial participation in Schengen was adopted on 22 December 2004 and came into force on 1 January 2005. I informed the House following the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 2 December 2004 that the Council Decision on the application of parts of the provisions of the Schengen acquis to the UK would soon be ready for adoption, by way of a written answer on 15 December 2004.

Emergency Response Vehicles

Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many emergency response vehicles are available to police forces.

Hazel Blears: This information is not held centrally. Decisions regarding the procurement and use of vehicles are operational matters and are the responsibility of the chief constable and the police authority.

Ethnic Minorities

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the extent to which the policies of his Department meet the needs of ethnic minorities.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office's Race Equality Scheme, which was first published in 2002, sets out how the Home Office meets its obligations under the revised Race Relations Act. It includes our commitment to assess the impact of our policies and services on minority ethnic communities. Assessments of new policies are produced and published individually; for example, the assessment relating to the Identity Cards Bill was published recently. Both the scheme and individual assessments are available on the Home Office web site. On 19 January 2005 a consultation on updating the scheme was published.

Gun Crimes

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many gun crimes there have been in the Avon and Somerset police authority in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is given in the table. Avon and Somerset adopted the National Crime Recording Standard (NCRS) in October 2000 ahead of national implementation in April 2002. Figures from 2000–01 onwards may have been affected by this.
	
		Firearms offences (excluding air weapons) recorded by the police in Avon and Somerset
		
			  Number of offences 
		
		
			 1997–98 65 
			 1998–99 71 
			 1999–2000 103 
			 2000–01 101 
			 2001–02 131 
			 2002–03 119 
			 2003–04 123

Initiatives (Funding)

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what budget was allocated to (a) the Connecting Communities Network, (b) the Civil Justice Council, (c) the Criminal Justice Integration Unit, (d) crime reduction partnerships, (e) each of the regional crime reduction teams, (f) the drug action teams, (g) the Criminal Records Bureau and (h) the Frank Drugs Campaign in each of the last two years; and how many staff each organisation employed in each year.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Department does not recognise the term Connecting Communities Network", but the budget for the Connecting Communities Grant programme was £4.695 million in the financial year 2003–04, rising to £5.908 million in 2004–05. The number of Home Office staff employed full-time on administering this grant was five in 2003–04, and one and a half in 2004–05.
	(b) The Civil Justice Council (CJC) is funded by the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The CJC's budget was £205,000 in the financial year 2003–04, rising to £214,000 in 2004–05. The number of staff in post (full-time equivalents) at 31 March 2004 was 3.1 and at 30 November 2004 was 4.1 (excluding the administrative head of the CJC, as he has split responsibilities and is funded by the Master of the Rolls).
	(c) As the term Criminal Justice Integration Unit" is unfamiliar, this question cannot be answered.
	(d) The Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRP), although having statutory functions, are not organisations in their own right and it is not possible to quantify the staff employed. CDRPs are virtual" partnerships, reliant upon the individual partners for the quality and quantity of resource available to them. Their work is largely co-ordinated by staff employed by local authorities, supplemented by seconded, or dedicated, police officers and officers from other Responsible Authorities.
	(e) The budgets for, and number of staff employed by, the regional crime reduction teams at the 10 Government Office for the Regions is given in the following table.
	
		
			  2003–04 2004–05 
			 Region Budget £000 Staff employed Budget £000 Staff employed 
		
		
			 NE 677 13.5 679 14 
			 NW 997 20.5 999 21 
			 Yorks and Humber 832 17.5 834 18 
			 West Midlands 980 20 982 20.5 
			 East Midlands 919 18.5 921 19 
			 East Midlands 790 15.5 793 16 
			 SE 815 16.5 817 17 
			 SW 890 18.5 893 19 
			 London 1,278 25.5 1,280 26 
			 Wales 626 14.8 654 16.8 
			 Total 8,804 180.8 8,852 187.3 
		
	
	Note:
	With regard to Wales, the budget shown here includes the Crime Reduction Director's Salary, and the number of staff employed in 2004–05 includes one Business Crime Adviser.
	The Crime Reduction Teams in the Government Offices for the Regions include drugs teams, partnership advisors, youth crime workers and street crime workers, among others. Not all of the staff within the team have their costs covered by the Home Office. The Regional Coordination Unit in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has responsibility for the staffing of the Government Offices and the Welsh Assembly Government has responsibility for the Crime Reduction Team in Wales. The Home Office holds details only of the number of staff employed in the teams at the end of July 2004, which was then 448.
	(f) Drug Action Teams (DAT) were established in 1995 and are accountable to the Home Secretary. They are local partnerships charged with responsibility for delivering the National Drugs Strategy at a local level, with representatives from the local authority (education, social services, housing), health, police, probation, the prison service and the voluntary sector.
	The 149 DATs in England receive an allocation from the Partnership Support Grant to support delivery of the Drugs Strategy. The Partnership Support Grant was formed in 2004–05 from the merger of two previous funding streams, the Drug Action Team Development Grant and the Drug Action Team Communities Against Drugs Grant. The budget for each of the financial years 2003–04 and 2004–05 was £11.3 million.
	No information is held centrally about the number of staff employed by the 149 DATs.
	(g) The budget allocated to the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) in the financial year 2003–04 was £22.8 million, comprising £8 million from the Home Office, £7.4 million from the Department for Education and Skills and £7.4 million from the Department of Health. In that year the CRB employed 380 staff.
	The CRB's budget for 2004–05 is £8.1 million, comprising £2.7 million from the Home Office, £3.4 million from the Department for Education and Skills and £2 million from the Department of Health.
	(h) The Frank Review report published on 25 November 2004 states that in the first set up year (2003–04) a total of £3.743 million was spent on advertising media funded by the Home Office and Department of Health. The marketing and advertising budget for the financial year 2004–05 is £3 million, funded equally by the Home Office and the Department of Health.
	Frank is not an organisation so has no staff.

Initiatives (Funding)

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what budget was allocated to (a) The National Centre for Policing Excellence, (b) the National Refugee Integration Forum, (c) each of the multi-agency public protection arrangements panels, (d) the Community Cohesion Unit, (e) each of the regional asset recovery teams, (f) each of the street crime courts and (g) the Country Information Unit in each of the last two years; and how many staff each organisation employed in each year.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information is as follows:
	(a) the National Centre for Policing Excellence:
	Financial year 2003–04: £16.4million (comprising £3 million from the Home Office and £13.4 million through CENTREX 1 and training income). 355 staff.
	Financial year 2004–05: £21.9 million (comprising £5 million from the Home Office, £7.7 million from training income and £9.2 million from CENTREX 1 ). 354 staff.
	1 CENTREX is the trading name of the Central Police Training and Development Authority.
	(b) The budget for the National Refugee Integration Forum in each of the last two financial years, 2003–04 and 2004–05, was £0.4 million. No staff are employed solely to run this Forum.
	(c) In the last two years there has been no specific central funding for the operation or staffing of the 42 multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements Panels.
	(d) The budget for Community Cohesion Unit in the financial year 2003–04 was £4.762 million, when 34 staff were employed. For the financial year 2004–05 the figures are £5.273 million and 21 respectively.
	(e) The budget for, and staff employed by, the four Regional Asset Recovery Teams was:
	
		
			  Financial year 2003–04 Financial year 2004–05 
			  £ million Staff £ million Staff 
		
		
			 Wales 0.673 25 1.459 32 
			 NE 0.718 27 1.510 29 
			 NW 0.955 12 1.244 34 
			 London 0.519 22 1.821 29 
			 Total 2.865 86 6.034 124 
		
	
	The Teams were not operational until part-way through 2003–04.
	(f) At the start of the Street Crime Initiative, in April 2002, 67 (later increased to 70) courts in the 10 Street Crime Force Areas were designated specialist street crime courts to give priority to street crime cases. They have not received any Home Office funding in the last two years, nor have they received, from the Department for Constitutional Affairs, any additional funding for extra sitting days arising from the Street Crime Initiative. No extra staff have been employed at these courts as a result of the Initiative.
	(g) The Country Information and Policy Unit (CIPU) had 27 staff in the financial year 2003–04 and 30 staff in 2004–05. It is part of the Home Office's Asylum and Appeals Policy Directorate. Its costs are met from within the overall resource budget of the Immigration and Nationality Department.

Initiatives (Funding)

Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what budget was allocated to the (a) Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit, (b) Persistent Offenders Taskforce and (c) Asylum Decision Service Unit in each of the last two years; and how many staff were employed by each.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Dedicated Cheque & Plastic Crime Unit had a budget of £0.823 million in the financial year 2003–04, and employed 28 staff. In the current financial year, 2004–05, it still has 28 staff but it has no government-funded budget—the Unit is now fully funded by the banking industry.
	(b) There is no Persistent Offenders Taskforce", but the budget for the Persistent Offenders Scheme was £5.355 million (of which £0.175 million was resource and £5.18 million capital) in the financial year 2003–4, when it employed 3.5 staff.
	In 2004–5 the Scheme's budget is £2.960 million (of which £0.120 million is resource and £2.84 million is capital). There are just 2 Home Office staff.
	(c) The Asylum Decision Service Unit does not have its own dedicated budget or staff.

Knives

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences were recorded in which a knife was used within the Greater London area in each of the last five years.

Hazel Blears: This information is not collected centrally. The number of offences involving knives are not separated out in the recorded crime statistics.

Motoring Offences

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of those convicted of offences of (a) driving without insurance, (b) driving without a licence and (c) driving after the refusal or revocation of a licence were fined (i) less than 20 per cent., (ii) between 20 and 40 per cent., (iii)between 40 and 60 per cent., (iv) between 60 and 80 per cent. and (v) more than 80 per cent. of the maximum penalty; and what percentage were (A)disqualified immediately, (B) disqualified under the totting-up procedure, (C) awarded up to three points, (D) awarded between four and six points and (E)awarded in excess of six points in the last period for which information is available.

Hazel Blears: The available information taken from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database on convictions, fines and disqualifications for specific motoring offences 2002 (latest available) is given in the table.
	Data for 2003 will be available in March 2005.
	
		Driving licence endorsements and disqualification imposed at all courts for specific motoring offences, England and Wales 2002
		
			   Endorsements without disqualification Total disqualifications(12) 
			 Offence type Total findings of guilt (=100%) Total Percentage Total Percentage 
		
		
			 (a) driving without insurance  Using motor vehicle uninsured against third party risk (RTA88 S143(2)) 289,100 219,100 76 53,000 18 
			 (b) driving without a licence  Driving or causing or permitting another person to drive other than  in accordance with a licence (full or provisional) (RTA88 S87(1) and (2) as amended) 171,300 147,300 85 800 0 
			 (c) driving after the refusal or revocation of a licence  Driving while disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence  (RTA88 S103(1)) 48,500 25,100 52 18,200 38 
			 Driving after false declaration as to physical illness; driving after failing to declare; driving after refusal or revocation(13) (RTA88 SS92–94 as  amended) 60 44 73 1 2 
		
	
	(12) Does not include persons disqualified by the courts under S35 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (penalty points system/totting-up). S35 statistics relate to persons only and cannot be attributed to a specific offence.
	(13) Cannot separately identify driving after refusal and revocation from the two other offences within the category (part of the same sub classification code)
	0 = Less than 0.5 per cent.

Muslim Prison Population

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the Muslim prison population in England and Wales is, broken down by (a) sex, (b) nationality and (c) ethnicity;
	(2)  what the Muslim prison population was on 1 November in each of the past five years for which figures are available, broken down by (a) ethnicity, (b) nationality and (c) sex.

Paul Goggins: The requested information for 31 October in each year from 2000 to 2004, as recorded on the Prison Service central IT system, is provided in the tables.
	
		Population of Muslim prisoners, by gender—England and Wales, 31 October
		
			  Male Female 
		
		
			 2000 4,551 102 
			 2001 4,867 113 
			 2002 5,767 130 
			 2003 6,132 133 
			 2004 6,758 146 
		
	
	
		Population of Muslim prisoners, by nationality—England and Wales, 31 October
		
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 All 4,653 4,980 5,897 6,265 6,904 
			 United Kingdom 3,066 3,308 3,837 3,889 4,375 
			   
			 Africa  
			 Algeria 92 93 129 136 135 
			 Angola 0 0 0 2 3 
			 Benin 2 1 0 0 1 
			 Botswana 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Burkina Faso 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Burundi 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Cameroon United Republic0 1 1 1 2 
			 Central African Republic 0 5 2 2 1 
			 Chad 0 0 1 3 1 
			 Congo 0 2 2 5 4 
			 Congo, Democratic Republic of3 1 5 3 7 
			 Cote D'lvoire (Ivory Coast)2 5 3 1 6 
			 Djibouti 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Egypt 8 12 8 11 14 
			 Ethiopia 5 4 2 3 2 
			 Gabon 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Gambia 16 14 10 22 32 
			 Ghana 7 10 9 12 15 
			 Guinea 2 0 0 1 8 
			 Kenya 9 12 17 21 14 
			 Liberia 1 2 1 6 8 
			 Libya 9 14 14 16 15 
			 Malawi 2 2 1 3 3 
			 Mali 0 0 1 2 0 
			 Mauritania 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Mauritius 2 4 2 4 1 
			 Mayotte 0 1 1 0 0 
			 Morocco 35 39 33 38 36 
			 Mozambique 1 0 0 1 1 
			 Namibia 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Niger 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Nigeria 32 40 36 44 74 
			 Rwanda 0 0 1 1 1 
			 Senegal 0 2 2 2 2 
			 Seychelles 1 0 0 0 0 
			 Sierre Leone 9 8 21 25 27 
			 Somalia 121 109 168 168 212 
			 South Africa 12 12 15 12 10 
			 Sudan 3 3 4 31 16 
			 Tanzania 3 7 6 5 9 
			 Togo 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Tunisia 3 2 6 5 14 
			 Uganda 6 9 14 18 19 
			 Zambia 1 2 2 1 4 
			 Zimbabwe 1 1 1 4 3 
			   
			 Asia  
			 Bangladesh 108 110 124 137 135 
			 Bhutan 0 0 0 1 1 
			 China 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Hong Kong 0 1 0 0 0 
			 India 34 35 38 39 35 
			 Indonesia 0 1 1 2 1 
			 Malaysia 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Myanmar, Union of (Burma)0 0 0 1 0 
			 Pakistan 291 306 361 354 348 
			 Sri Lanka 5 4 8 16 11 
			 Surinam 2 1 1 2 2 
			 Vietnam 0 0 1 1 0 
			   
			 Central/South America  
			 Argentina 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Belize 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Bolivia 1 0 1 2 0 
			 Brazil 0 1 0 0 5 
			 Columbia 1 2 1 0 0 
			 Ecuador 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Venezuela 0 0 0 2 1 
			   
			 Europe  
			 Albania 37 35 48 42 56 
			 Andorra 1 1 1 1 1 
			 Armenia 0 1 0 1 2 
			 Austria 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Azerbaijan 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Belgium 4 3 2 0 2 
			 Bosnia-Hercegovina 2 3 4 1 2 
			 Bulgaria 1 1 1 0 0 
			 Croatia 1 1 0 0 0 
			 Cyprus 57 49 45 41 38 
			 Czech Republic 0 0 — 1 0 
			 Denmark 2 3 2 4 3 
			 France 18 21 29 34 35 
			 Germany 3 0 3 8 8 
			 Greece 2 0 1 1 0 
			 Irish Republic 5 7 5 6 6 
			 Italy 3 4 2 6 13 
			 Kazakhstan 1 1 2 0 0 
			 Kyrgystan 0 0 0 1 2 
			 Lithuania 0 1 2 3 0 
			 Macedonia 0 0 1 2 2 
			 Netherlands 17 22 42 35 24 
			 Norway 0 0 1 0 2 
			 Portugal 1 1 6 4 5 
			 Romania 3 1 1 0 5 
			 Russia 3 4 3 9 13 
			 San Marino 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Serbia and Montenegro 43 41 68 48 51 
			 Slovenia 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Spain 4 3 4 6 5 
			 Sweden 0 0 1 2 3 
			 Turkey 168 178 174 225 199 
			 Turkmenistan 1 0 3 1 0 
			 Uzbekistan 0 0 0 1 0 
			   
			 Middle East  
			 Afghanistan 27 16 32 62 59 
			 Bahrain 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Iran 39 37 57 60 86 
			 Iraq 33 26 81 128 185 
			 Israel 3 2 3 6 7 
			 Jordan 6 4 3 5 8 
			 Kuwait 5 2 1 3 6 
			 Lebanon 7 15 9 18 16 
			 Qatar 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Republic of Yemen 1 5 6 8 9 
			 Saudi Arabia 5 3 6 3 5 
			 Syrian Arab Republic 5 6 6 7 10 
			 United Arab Emirates 4 2 4 7 5 
			   
			 North America  
			 Canada 2 3 2 1 4 
			 United States of America 9 9 8 11 8 
			   
			 Oceania  
			 Australia 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Fiji 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Samoa 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Soloman Islands 1 1 0 0 1 
			   
			 Other 0 1 1 3 0 
			   
			 West Indies  
			 Anguilla 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Aruba 3 3 0 0 0 
			 Bahamas 0 0 1 2 1 
			 Barbados 2 2 2 3 5 
			 Dominica 0 0 2 0 0 
			 Dominican Republic 0 1 1 1 0 
			 Grenada 2 1 1 2 1 
			 Guyana 2 4 2 2 4 
			 Jamaica 98 120 145 162 166 
			 Montserrat 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Netherlands Antilles 3 4 3 3 2 
			 St Christopher and Nevis 0 0 1 0 0 
			 St Kitts and Nevis 1 1 1 1 1 
			 St Lucia 4 4 3 2 0 
			 St Vincent & The Grenadines2 1 1 0 1 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 5 9 6 11 16 
			 Virgin Islands 1 1 2 1 0 
			 Not recorded 110 133 162 205 195 
		
	
	
		Population of Muslim prisoners, by ethnicity(14)—England and Wales, 31 October
		
			  2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 White 536 605 727 
			 Black 1,598 1,667 1,889 
			 South Asian 1,283 1,425 1,708 
			 Chinese and other 1,232 1,276 1,570 
			 Unrecorded 5 7 3 
		
	
	(14) Information is not available for October 2003 or October 2004

National Offender Management Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the business case for the National Offender Management Information Project.

Paul Goggins: The business case for the National Offender Management Information Project is not yet completed. It is expected to be agreed in July 2005. No decision has been taken on publication.

National Offender Management Service

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish (a) the Business Case, (b) the Gateway Review and (c) the Risk Assessment of the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: A request for all three items of information has been received under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. That request is now being considered and, if the documents are released under the Act, I will consider whether they should also be published.

OASys System

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the original deadlines for connecting the prison and probation services' OASys IT systems have been met.

Paul Goggins: Roll out of the probation and prison OASys IT systems has gone well. The prison service completed its roll out by the end of 2004 and all probation areas have been using OASys IT since last summer. However our plans to connect the two systems are behind schedule.
	We decided that it made sense, first, to pilot a limited version of the software that would provide the connection between the two systems, with full deployment of the final version of the software to follow at a later date. At the beginning of 2004 our aim was to begin the pilot in July and have the final version ready for deployment in September, with a view to completing roll out across the probation service and prison service around the end of 2004.
	The pilot began in July as planned, linking one probation area to several prisons. However the effort needed to develop and support the pilot was greater than expected, which delayed completion of the final version of the software until the end of November. The final version is now in use across the prison service and in the pilot probation area.
	Plans for roll out across the rest of the probation service have been put back in order to give priority to work that will enable OASys to support implementation of the sentencing provisions of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act in April. We now expect to achieve full connectivity between the prison and probation OASys IT systems by autumn 2005.

Offending Behaviour Courses

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expenditure he expects to be incurred by the Prison Service in providing faith-based offending behaviour courses in (a) 2004–05 and (b) 2005–06.

Paul Goggins: Details of the expenditure incurred by the Prison Service in supporting faith-based offending behaviour courses are not held centrally.

Parliamentary Questions

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reason it was not possible to respond to the question tabled on 26 October by the hon. Member for Clydesdale concerning the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting of 25 to 26 October before Prorogation.

Fiona Mactaggart: Ministers make every effort to answer questions substantively in accordance with performance guidelines and especially before Prorogation. However this is not always possible. A drafting error meant that my hon. Friend's question answer was referred back for amendment, but unfortunately the corrected version was still in draft at Prorogation. I am sorry a substantive response was not provided. Where right hon. and hon. Members did not receive a substantive response it is open to them to re-table their question this session.

Parliamentary Questions

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will reply to the question tabled on 3 December 2004, by the hon. Member for New Forest, East, ref. 203298, asking how many departmental files have been destroyed in each of the past five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: I replied to the hon. Member on 2 February 2005.

Peter Sutcliffe

Tim Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors he took into consideration before his decision to allow Peter Sutcliffe to visit Arnside in Cumbria on 17 January; and what costs were incurred in (a) preparing for and (b) undertaking that visit by (i) Cumbria Constabulary, (ii) Broadmoor and (iii) other public bodies.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 27 January 2005
	In considering any leave of a restricted patient from a secure hospital on compassionate grounds, the Secretary of State makes a thorough assessment of any risks to the safety of others and the strength of the compassionate grounds. He also takes into account the potential distress to victims or victims' families.
	The costs of preparing for the visit can be provided only at disproportionate cost. On the day of the visit four staff were used from Broadmoor at an approximate cost of £1,800 as well as two police officers from Cumbria Constabulary at an approximate cost of £450.

Police Cells (London)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners were being held in police cells at police stations in the Greater London area on the latest date for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: Information recorded on the Prison Service Central IT system states that, as at 21 January 2005, there were no prisoners being held in police cells in the Greater London area.

Police Training

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects on the fitness of police cadets of the shortening of the basic training period; and if he will make a statement.

Hazel Blears: The reduction in the length of Stage 2 of police probationer training from 15 weeks to 12 has taken place within the context of discussions with Centrex over their budget for 2004–05. Representatives of Centrex, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and force training managers considered the length of Stage 2 in detail and concluded that 12 weeks should be sufficient to deliver a comprehensive probationer training programme.
	In restructuring Stage 2, some elements, such as drill work and passing out parades, were removed. The approach of the modernised programme is to encourage student officers to take on increased personal responsibility for development, in particular their fitness. This philosophy should help to raise the long-term fitness of student officers, and help them maintain good fitness levels throughout their police careers.
	There is no specific fitness assessment during Stage 2. However, candidates are required to pass a fitness test as part of the recruitment process.

Press Officers

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was spent by his Department on press officers in each of the past eight years, broken down by grade.

Fiona Mactaggart: Press officers within the Home Office are employed at the Information Officer (IO) and Senior Information Officer (SIO) grades, the costs of these staff for the years requested are as follows:
	
		£
		
			 Grade 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 
		
		
			 IO 239,400 212,010 185,022 210,040 
			 SIO 129,600 119,990 143,978 132,960 
			 Total 369,000 332,000 329,000 345,000 
		
	
	
		£
		
			 Grade 2000–01(15) 2001–02(16) 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 IO 500,475 711,629 1,141,990 1,229,629 
			 SIO 362,525 288,371 560,192 670,371 
			 Total 863,000 1,000,000 1,700,000 1,900,000 
		
	
	(15) Expansion of the Home Office press office followed an external consultant's review of its staffing and operation in 1999 and recommended the creation of the Newsdesk" so as to better meet the demands of the media. This improved efficiency from losing in excess of 20 per cent. of the calls pre-expansion, to a position where from June 2003 to June 2004 91.8 per cent. of the 67,070 press calls received by the Newsdesk were answered.
	(16) The Home Office press office and the prison service press office merged in May 2001

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list (a) the running costs for each establishment or prison in the Prison Service and (b) the average number of prisoners held at that establishment in each of the last three financial years for which figures are available.

Paul Goggins: The following table provides information for financial years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 relating to Prison Service running costs for each establishment along with the average number of prisoners held at that establishment. Data on contracted prisons for 2003–04, which transferred to the National Offender Management Service that year, is not held centrally.
	
		
			  Population Net expenditure (£) 
			 Sector/ Establishment 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Contracted out prisons   
			 Altcourse 826 981 996 30,595,377.96 32,154,593.40 Not available 
			 Ashfield 377 267 278 12,542,676.96 9,820,998.72 Not available 
			 Doncaster 1,079 1,122 1,110 18,369,239.04 19,252,815.48 Not available 
			 Dovegate — 754 849 — 24,511,441.56 Not available 
			 Forest Bank 840 1,011 1,004 19,522,323.96 20,821,813.20 Not available 
			 Lowdham Grange 495 518 522 12,694,649.04 13,159,648.80 Not available 
			 Parc 894 975 980 28,811,957.04 31,322,995.44 Not available 
			 Rye Hill 591 656 656 14,567,327.04 14,103,265.80 Not available 
			 Wolds 399 381 344 8,642,517.96 8,504,900.40 Not available 
			 Contracted out prisons total 5,500 6,664 6,740 145,746,036.00 173,652,472.80 Not available 
			
			 Public prisons   
			 Acklington 748 771 852 12,306,950.52 13,054,220.63 15,788,472.93 
			 Albany 441 440 506 9,638,823.72 10,214,991.77 10,898,755.41 
			 Ashwell 395 494 529 7,977,358.68 8,886,441.91 9,820,621.63 
			 Askham Grange 125 129 125 2,802,067.92 3,010,141.59 3,504,485.35 
			 Aylesbury 346 348 346 10,900,370.64 11,665,888.85 12,479,819.51 
			 Bedford 414 459 476 8,449,673.64 9,496,198.32 10,592,949.56 
			 Belmarsh 845 874 890 30,948,620.04 31,517,398.69 35,243,300.73 
			 Birmingham 842 920 1,144 16,696,491.24 18,407,049.27 26,001,933.35 
			 Blakenhurst 838 864 875 9,672,423.96 12,205,742.38 14,323,009.16 
			 Blantyre House 117 119 120 2,490,331.56 2,610,224.12 2,804,446.76 
			 Blundeston 415 430 457 9,982,610.40 10,665,340.96 11,696,407.12 
			 Brinsford 451 457 455 12,069,795.12 13,067,319.60 14,719,849.89 
			 Bristol 574 603 586 17,134,205.04 17,726,083.52 17,527,369.32 
			 Brixton 757 781 795 19,503,710.64 19,738,369.57 20,145,741.42 
			 Brockhill 154 157 146 5,643,992.64 6,545,909.88 7,177,765.87 
			 Buckley Hall 327 252 299 6,696,946.20 8,002,424.25 8,754,832.76 
			 Bullingdon 889 923 946 15,178,113.72 16,450,924.62 18,905,326.43 
			 Bullwood Hall 167 169 154 5,623,915.92 6,735,862.20 7,537,890.15 
			 Camp Hill 525 536 565 10,096,506.48 10,773,949.96 11,650,349.42 
			 Canterbury 286 302 297 6,268,130.16 6,718,208.85 6,905,821.51 
			 Cardiff 643 664 670 13,370,996.16 14,263,885.93 15,517,951.68 
			 Castington 296 326 274 11,168,009.76 12,033,756.12 13,481,139.10 
			 Channings Wood 588 613 635 11,238,889.44 12,381,003.81 13,442,288.38 
			 Chelmsford 467 564 573 11,573,580.12 12,872,923.29 13,939,441.66 
			 Coldingley 364 378 386 7,909,234.44 8,151,903.19 9,128,148.67 
			 Cookham Wood 147 129 133 3,576,877.56 3,973,515.48 4,523,752.59 
			 Dartmoor 600 613 607 14,631,698.16 14,952,728.64 15,438,615.31 
			 Deerbolt 405 446 447 9,711,053.16 10,672,539.93 12,815,868.22 
			 Dorchester 241 245 235 5,726,271.96 6,397,175.71 6,958,360.69 
			 Dover 200 180 286 6,728,429.04 7,531,998.94 8,535,930.83 
			 Downview 201 226 211 7,158,939.72 8,572,194.48 9,514,316.75 
			 Drake Hall 230 261 289 5,694,213.12 6,516,051.23 7,472,584.80 
			 Durham 698 706 707 22,550,478.60 23,777,699.87 25,058,947.41 
			 East Sutton Park 93 90 95 2,198,632.20 2,663,044.75 2,573,575.67 
			 Eastwood Park 314 296 282 7,352,499.84 8,042,491.32 9,913,081.09 
			 Edmunds Hill — — 236 — — 10,166,109.34 
			 Elmley 917 962 978 15,151,352.64 16,103,052.04 16,341,014.54 
			 Erlestoke 319 351 410 6,191,129.88 6,908,721.70 8,121,058.84 
			 Everthorpe 432 372 444 7,959,428.16 8,302,402.15 9,197,297.31 
			 Exeter 479 505 522 10,282,668.96 11,607,391.18 12,234,022.00 
			 Featherstone 588 607 612 12,549,693.24 13,097,561.68 13,682,193.96 
			 Feltham 650 657 654 24,346,836.72 30,914,847.84 34,739,708.34 
			 Ford 411 497 507 6,271,677.84 7,235,484.88 7,751,286.18 
			 Foston Hall 193 216 221 5,299,241.16 6,045,225.42 6,578,212.21 
			 Frankland 638 649 652 24,550,210.44 26,165,446.85 29,118,141.90 
			 Full Sutton 591 601 604 23,541,026.40 24,773,246.12 26,386,702.21 
			 Garth 613 649 649 12,879,053.64 13,576,682.98 14,617,993.19 
			 Gartree 282 281 337 8,886,522.36 8,907,621.83 10,526,747.60 
			 Glen Parva 768 776 768 16,615,880.04 17,838,628.16 18,973,060.82 
			 Gloucester 287 313 299 7,417,887.96 7,925,896.84 8,838,003.52 
			 Grendon 446 464 540 11,293,397.88 11,834,437.62 14,095,176.72 
			 Guys Marsh 509 529 557 8,103,303.12 8,984,586.08 10,274,248.73 
			 Haslar 146 131 133 2,847,597.84 3,430,225.55 4,184,600.54 
			 Hatfield 169 — — 4,116,131.64 — — 
			 Haverigg 537 544 553 9,638,718.96 9,846,312.95 11,207,603.76 
			 Hewell Grange 168 182 169 3,018,642.24 3,073,260.46 3,647,648.31 
			 High Down 708 724 733 17,266,744.08 18,620,299.16 18,342,968.39 
			 Highpoint 841 872 739 16,860,130.56 18,628,778.69 13,421,205.82 
			 Hindley 447 507 504 13,429,475.64 17,104,335.36 18,631,028.63 
			 Hollesley Bay 335 424 306 12,625,347.24 14,900,729.52 6,936,001.18 
			 Holloway 486 481 467 20,210,798.28 24,950,875.19 24,503,392.74 
			 Holme House 938 978 979 16,789,327.68 18,220,248.23 19,642,584.13 
			 Hull 575 793 1,022 13,824,391.20 17,551,047.22 21,767,681.07 
			 Huntercombe 326 346 321 9,984,811.92 12,126,322.68 13,683,794.82 
			 Kingston 182 187 161 4,748,471.40 5,133,177.30 5,263,066.42 
			 Kirkham 479 482 526 10,642,725.24 11,292,356.57 11,834,765.33 
			 Kirklevington 172 181 217 2,806,220.04 3,088,563.53 3,739,040.74 
			 Lancaster 226 237 237 5,718,901.92 6,137,630.11 6,560,738.78 
			 Lancaster Farms 499 478 465 11,715,332.64 13,087,838.64 15,402,635.01 
			 Latchmere House 171 188 193 3,052,466.28 3,419,175.01 3,795,789.14 
			 Leeds 1,234 1,244 1,246 23,291,510.28 24,161,348.29 25,793,017.19 
			 Leicester 342 362 380 8,204,348.52 8,402,449.99 9,321,911.08 
			 Lewes 461 510 498 9,985,425.36 10,262,873.21 12,151,241.46 
			 Leyhill 380 425 499 8,585,072.76 9,761,621.43 10,238,610.72 
			 Lincoln 514 452 462 11,655,840.96 13,468,972.50 14,168,125.75 
			 Lindholme 617 724 710 15,386,512.44 16,782,005.24 17,181,143.31 
			 Littlehey 623 651 665 10,376,196.60 10,532,340.96 11,569,348.39 
			 Liverpool 1,349 1,444 1,438 25,565,331.96 26,779,122.44 29,081,192.62 
			 Long Lartin 424 430 432 20,122,537.08 20,297,348.70 21,759,326.69 
			 Low Newton 275 275 282 7,547,572.32 8,027,668.08 9,530,830.99 
			 Maidstone 377 500 536 10,405,356.96 11,094,821.30 11,439,739.14 
			 Manchester 1,171 1,253 1,251 26,037,370.92 25,453,776.37 28,452,774.07 
			 Moorland 765 951 994 15,006,469.20 20,902,463.22 22,199,672.57 
			 Morton Hall 177 251 332 4,821,306.72 6,514,374.75 8,265,011.48 
			 Mount 728 754 757 11,565,509.04 12,808,539.13 14,103,646.46 
			 New Hall 362 348 361 10,405,366.68 11,888,471.16 14,575,158.86 
			 North Sea Camp 193 266 290 3,738,139.20 4,446,814.25 4,615,384.87 
			 Northallerton 194 201 208 5,080,144.68 5,273,815.17 5,974,078.68 
			 Norwich 726 743 721 14,164,850.88 15,229,088.10 16,123,860.07 
			 Nottingham 501 530 534 10,413,671.88 11,178,581.58 12,353,040.22 
			 Onley 549 519 478 13,504,210.68 14,770,000.32 15,865,977.56 
			 Parkhurst 437 506 494 12,434,863.32 13,259,482.25 14,777,152.73 
			 Pentonville 1,162 1,203 1,198 22,239,322.68 25,047,520.66 26,329,862.41 
			 Portland 472 436 446 11,313,800.76 11,106,772.04 12,553,777.06 
			 Preston 554 642 664 13,192,099.20 14,005,563.36 15,197,436.21 
			 Ranby 729 752 799 12,851,506.44 14,269,727.16 16,128,715.73 
			 Reading 236 263 261 6,761,178.24 7,080,270.26 8,495,683.52 
			 Risley 801 897 1,055 16,393,280.64 18,221,820.84 20,722,667.32 
			 Rochester 246 162 201 8,790,555.00 8,601,058.97 8,694,797.84 
			 Send 216 215 215 4,609,306.68 4,973,567.22 6,074,953.68 
			 Shepton Mallet 164 186 185 4,833,093.96 4,990,998.51 5,630,387.49 
			 Shrewsbury 330 333 338 6,518,034.48 7,340,718.66 7,848,804.29 
			 Stafford 618 630 637 10,624,650.96 12,305,293.98 13,225,249.88 
			 Standford Hill 346 392 426 7,308,028.08 8,107,637.60 8,436,240.40 
			 Stocken 573 577 616 9,454,465.68 10,199,202.65 11,221,790.97 
			 Stoke Heath 522 629 619 13,554,911.40 15,705,333.36 17,394,795.84 
			 Styal 429 432 424 10,894,273.08 11,529,555.22 13,371,178.18 
			 Sudbury 500 506 539 7,606,310.04 7,700,778.95 8,599,753.54 
			 Swaleside 752 769 771 13,493,143.08 13,776,387.74 14,746,329.49 
			 Swansea 260 362 345 7,511,932.80 8,219,127.67 8,988,411.86 
			 Swinfen Hall 312 313 313 7,445,593.56 7,860,939.19 8,609,410.44 
			 Thorn Cross 219 208 208 7,359,860.52 7,370,209.08 8,081,102.35 
			 Usk 324 328 392 6,805,526.40 7,171,809.47 7,951,779.91 
			 Verne 567 581 581 9,534,353.28 10,002,289.72 10,343,170.14 
			 Wakefield 558 570 563 19,914,098.64 20,955,508.28 21,875,455.42 
			 Wandsworth 1,358 1,457 1,456 25,450,136.28 27,936,163.70 30,949,360.95 
			 Warren Hill — — 173 — — 9,486,155.64 
			 Wayland 628 659 697 9,928,884.72 10,818,403.22 11,602,260.06 
			 Wealstun 604 587 596 10,870,433.88 11,659,314.42 13,663,459.73 
			 Weare 377 384 376 7,340,015.76 7,920,458.28 8,463,373.99 
			 Wellingborough 503 520 519 9,133,033.92 9,306,368.67 10,427,925.20 
			 Werrington 121 130 123 5,058,624.60 5,820,566.88 6,360,411.15 
			 Wetherby 325 343 303 8,594,400.24 10,161,472.32 11,743,631.06 
			 Whatton 270 290 352 4,877,527.56 5,783,698.75 7,021,856.40 
			 Whitemoor 398 419 418 22,611,768.72 24,138,778.64 24,942,489.37 
			 Winchester 581 618 626 11,907,739.32 13,206,336.78 14,938,932.21 
			 Woodhill 674 754 772 22,103,665.08 23,631,596.83 26,427,000.19 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 1,021 1,214 1,214 23,256,552.00 24,691,189.11 28,870,884.65 
			 Wymott 790 810 841 14,929,816.44 15,501,819.76 17,605,372.62 
			
			 Public prisons total 61,605 64,834 66,939 1,434,675,919.32 1,559,542,249.00 1,721,563,785.45 
			
			 Prison system total 67,105 71,498 73,679 1,580,421,955.32 1,733,194,722.36 1,721,563,785.45

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the cost of the (a) performance and (b) market testing programmes for each establishment within HM Prison Service where they have been run or are ongoing for each year of operation of the programmes.

Paul Goggins: The amounts provided by the Prison Service for establishments to develop in-house bids are given in the table. Information on market test bids for Manchester and Buckley Hall in 1992 and 1994 respectively is not available. The figures in the table do not include any additional resources contributed from within establishments' own budgets. The market test and performance testing processes have proved extremely effective with successful bids leading to significant improvements in performance and value for money in establishments.
	
		
			  Competition/ Establishment In-house bid team funding (£) 
		
		
			  Performance test  
			 2002 Leicester 244,000 
			 2002 Reading 270,000 
			 2003 Dartmoor 230,000 
			 2003 Liverpool 230,000 
			 2003 Bullingdon 230,000 
			 2003 Eastwood Park 230,000 
			 2004 Hindley 200,000 
			 2004 Wandsworth 200,000 
			
			  Market test  
			 2001 Brixton 305,000 
			 2001 Wolds 328,500 
			 2000 Manchester 400,000 
			 2000 Blakenhurst 400,000 
			 1999 Doncaster 230,000 
			 1999 Buckley Hall 230,000

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations are being conducted by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman into self-inflicted deaths in prisons in England and Wales; how many staff are involved in conducting these investigations; and of those staff, how many have been appointed from outside the Prison Service.

Paul Goggins: Investigation of all deaths in custody (whether apparently self- inflicted or otherwise) became the responsibility of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman on 1 April 2004. Since that date, investigations have begun into 186 deaths in prisons, immigration detention and probation approved premises. This includes 74 apparently self-inflicted deaths in prison.
	The Fatal Incident Investigation Team within the Ombudsman's office comprises 22 people, 16 of whom were recruited from outside the Prison Service. The Ombudsman hopes to make further appointments.

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what meetings the Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service has held with which private company interested in running prisons and the probation service in England and Wales;
	(2)  what discussions he has held with which companies about bidding for the running of young offender institutions in England and Wales.

Paul Goggins: No Home Office Minister has had discussions with any companies about bidding for the running of prisons, including young offender institutions.
	The Chief Executive of the National Offender Management Service regularly meets with the four companies currently operating prisons (Global Solutions Ltd., Premier Prison Services Ltd., Securicor Justice Services Ltd. and UK Detention Services Ltd.). He has also met Cornell and Geo Group.

Prisons

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2004, Official Report, column 344W, on prisons, what the agreed overcrowding limit is for each of the private finance initiative prisons; and what penalties have been imposed on each prison for exceeding its overcrowding limit in the last three years.

Paul Goggins: As of 19 January 2005 the agreed Operational Capacity (maximum level of permitted overcrowding) for each of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) prisons was as follows:
	
		
			 Establishment Operational Capacity Prison type 
		
		
			 HMP and YOI Altcourse 903 Male local prison 
			 HMYOI Ashfield 360 Male juvenile prison 
			 HMP Bronzefield 451 Female local and training prison 
			 HMP Dovegate 660 Male category B training prison 
			 HMP and YOI Forest Bank 1,040 Male local prison 
			 HMP Lowdham Grange 524 Male category B training prison 
			 HMP and YOI Parc 1,036 Male local prison 
			 HMP Rye Hill 664 Male category B training prison 
		
	
	There is no facility for any contracted prison to exceed its agreed overcrowding limit as prisoners are re-directed once that point is reached. There have therefore been no penalties awarded for excessive overcrowding.

Prisons

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners at (a) Elmley prison and (b) Swaleside prison have been reclassified from category C to category D in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: Figures for the number of prisoners recategorised from category C to category D are available only from November 1999 onwards for Elmley prison and from 2004 for Swaleside prison.
	These are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005(17) 
		
		
			 Elmley 84 169 155 108 150 5 
			 Swaleside (18)—; (18)—; (18)—; (18)—; 18 1 
			 Total (18)—; (18)—; (18)—; (18)—; 168 6 
		
	
	(17) To date.
	(18) Figures not recorded.

Private Mario Clarke

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers are assigned to the investigation into the death of Private Mario Clarke in Hackney on 26 December 2002; what steps have been taken to maintain contact of a family liaison officer with Private Clarke's widow, subsequent to her deportation to Jamaica; what steps have been taken to establish an inquest into the death; and whether public funds will be made available to Deveen Clarke to attend the inquest.

Hazel Blears: The investigation into the murder of Private Mario Clarke is being conducted by a Murder Investigation Team (MIT) from the Metropolitan Police Trident team. The MIT's strength is that of a normal MIT with one Detective Chief Inspector, three Detective Inspectors five, Detective Sergeants and 23Detective Constables and support staff. Private Clarke's widow Deveen has been contacted in Jamaica by the Family liaison officers directly and in addition through other members of the family when her movements made communications difficult. An inquest into the murder was held on the 22 September 2004 by the coroner Mr Reid. The result was a verdict of unlawful killing. The Met have indicated that as Deveen Clarke did not attend the inquest it was not necessary to make public funds available.

Publications

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on (a) preparation, (b) publication and (c) delivery of The Sharp End" magazine.

Hazel Blears: The Sharp End" magazine is for frontline police officers, Community Support Officers and police staff. It aims to inform them about changes which are making a difference to their working lives. The Government have a duty to explain how its policies impact on this key audience, and our research shows they would welcome it.
	The Sharp End complements the local information police officers receive from their Chief Constables and other sources. The first issue included articles on new antisocial behaviour powers, best practice on cutting burglary, preserving scenes of crime and using new techniques such as automatic number plate recognition, the introduction of new equipment such as non-lethal weapons ('tasers') and how officers can stay fit for their job.
	Total costs for the magazine this financial year have been £588,604.94 which is broken down as follows:
	(a) Preparation: £140,769.99—this covered the research phase including production of a test issue of the magazine
	(b) Publication: £251,397.00—this covers the design, production and printing of three issues of the magazine
	(c) Distribution: £196,437.95—this covers direct mailing of sample magazines to forces, distribution of three issues of the magazine, subscription list building and order fulfilment. These costs relate largely to the launch and set up of the magazine and therefore will reduce considerably next financial year.
	This represents good value for ensuring that all frontline police have information about issues affecting their working lives.

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts were awarded by (a) the Department and (b) agencies for which the Department is responsible to small and medium-sized enterprises in each year since 2001–02; and what the total value of those contracts was in each year.

Fiona Mactaggart: The available information held by the Home Office is as follows.
	
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 (a) The Department
			 Number of contracts awarded to SMEs 335 58 429 
			 Total value of contracts awarded to SMEs (£) 12,701,653 121,111,670 57,245,818 
			 
			 (b) Agencies for which the Department is responsible
			 Number of contracts awarded to SMEs 0 13,580 2,240 
			 Total value of contracts awarded to SMEs (£) 0 84,812,702 54,420,403

Research and Development

Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many research and development procurement opportunities were disseminated by the Department to small and medium-sized enterprises registered through the Small Business Research Initiative in each year since 2001–02, to date; and what the value of such opportunities was in each case.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office does not hold a central record of the number or value of research anddevelopment procurement opportunities that weredisseminated by the Department to small and medium-sized enterprises registered through the Small Business Research Initiative in each financial year since 2001–02. To obtain this information would incur disproportionate costs.

Sex Attacks

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the percentage of drug assisted sex attacks that go unreported;
	(2)  what plans he has to fund a campaign in the run-up to the Christmas party season to alert women to the dangers of leaving drinks unattended;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the prevalence of (a) drink spiking and (b) drug rape following drink spiking.

Paul Goggins: The recorded crime information collected centrally and held on the Home Office Court Proceedings, does not allow the separate identification of rapes involving drugs.
	Results obtained by the Forensic Science Service from a study involving 1,014 cases of claimed drug facilitated sexual assault between 2000 and 2002 showed that:
	2 per cent. of such cases were due to a deliberate administration of drugs intended to disinhibit the victim.
	Alcohol was detected in 81 per cent. of cases where samples were taken soon enough to be able to detect it.
	Findings from the 2001 BCS Inter-Personal Violence Module found that in 5 per cent. of rape cases since age 16, victims said that they were drugged in some way. The BCS IPV module also suggests that only 15 per cent. of victims of serious sexual assault report it to the police.
	In November 2004 the Association of Chief Police Officers launched Operation Matisse, a six-month study which will assess the extent of drink spiking and sexual assault in seven police force areas. It is the first co-ordinated study on drug-facilitated sexual assault, and will provide valuable information on which effective action to tackle this particularly sinister crime can be based.
	The Government did not fund a campaign specifically to warn against drink-spiking in the run-up to Christmas. We believe that the consumption of alcohol, whether intentional or unsolicited, is a bigger factor than drugs in sexual assault, and we intend to focus awareness raising work on this issue, as part of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Programme for England.

Sex Offenders

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State forthe Home Department what percentage of sex offenders committed suicide in (a) overcrowded and (b) non-overcrowded prisons in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: The information requested with respect to individuals in prison charged with, convicted of or sentenced for sexual offences is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Number who apparently took their own lives Number who apparently took their own lives that were in prisons operating over their CNA1 Percentage Number who apparently took their own lives that were in prisons operating under their CNA Percentage 
		
		
			 2000 8 7 88 1 12 
			 2001 7 5 71 2 29 
			 2002 8 8 100 0 0 
			 2003 9 8 89 1 11 
			 2004 5 3 60 2 40 
		
	
	(19) Certified Normal Accommodation. This is the uncrowded capacity of an establishment (after adjusting for accommodation out of use), that is to say with no prisoners sharing two to a cell certified for one. Though the holding prisons were, at the time of the prisoners' deaths, operating over their respective CNAs, this does not necessarily mean that the prisoners who died were accommodated in 'overcrowded' conditions, for example, one of two prisoners accommodated in a cell designed for one.

Special Constables

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average age is of serving special constables, broken down by police force area.

Hazel Blears: Information on the average age of special constables is not collected centrally. However, information is collected showing the number of specials by age group. The available data for 31 March 2004 are given in the table.
	
		Age of special constables as at 31 March 2004
		
			  Under 25 years 26 to 40 years 41 to 55 years Over 55 years 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 52 163 77 13 
			 Bedfordshire 31 87 25 3 
			 Cambridgeshire 26 120 44 3 
			 Cheshire 27 95 40 11 
			 Cleveland 18 39 22 6 
			 Cumbria 5 42 30 0 
			 Derbyshire 81 154 58 8 
			 Devon and Cornwall 86 311 179 26 
			 Dorset 32 107 64 7 
			 Durham 18 48 13 2 
			 Dyfed-Powys 22 76 41 12 
			 Essex 45 181 111 12 
			 Gloucestershire 24 87 39 5 
			 Greater Manchester 100 182 55 8 
			 Gwent 33 66 32 5 
			 Hampshire 76 169 87 14 
			 Hertfordshire 64 95 40 7 
			 Humberside 41 110 53 5 
			 Kent 99 147 79 16 
			 Lancashire 91 158 73 14 
			 Leicestershire 38 74 42 5 
			 Lincolnshire 39 73 34 10 
			 London, City of 11 32 6 5 
			 Merseyside 112 211 46 2 
			 Metropolitan Police n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Norfolk 45 118 62 16 
			 Northamptonshire 51 99 44 3 
			 Northumbria 36 77 51 5 
			 North Wales 26 66 32 0 
			 North Yorkshire 15 77 59 9 
			 Nottinghamshire 50 152 78 15 
			 South Wales 44 114 57 3 
			 South Yorkshire 57 92 44 7 
			 Staffordshire 89 183 91 13 
			 Suffolk 42 136 80 8 
			 Surrey 59 136 52 8 
			 Sussex 42 85 41 13 
			 Thames Valley 77 166 86 12 
			 Warwickshire 27 92 41 9 
			 West Mercia 40 137 86 17 
			 West Midlands 208 372 128 7 
			 West Yorkshire 84 234 80 5 
			 Wiltshire 51 85 31 2 
			 Total 2,214 5,248 2,433 351 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.

Special Constables

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average tenure is of serving special constables, broken down by (a) year of entry and (b) police force area.

Hazel Blears: The information is not collected centrally. However, information is collected on the length of service of Special Constables when leaving. The latest available data are given in the following table.
	
		Special constables—length of service on leaving in 2003–04
		
			  6 months and under 6 months to 2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years Over 10 years 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 6 41 33 9 15 
			 Bedfordshire 4 0 4 4 1 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 15 15 6 7 
			 Cheshire 0 1 3 2 0 
			 Cleveland 1 4 5 4 2 
			 Cumbria 3 0 6 7 9 
			 Derbyshire 1 9 10 6 9 
			 Devon and Cornwall 4 13 28 37 19 
			 Dorset 0 9 9 13 6 
			 Durham 0 3 6 7 5 
			 Dyfed-Powys 1 0 4 3 0 
			 Essex 1 27 22 23 12 
			 Gloucestershire 1 2 5 8 4 
			 Greater Manchester 1 34 17 20 7 
			 Gwent 2 5 2 5 3 
			 Hampshire 3 31 24 17 8 
			 Hertfordshire 4 22 8 8 5 
			 Humberside 0 13 2 3 2 
			 Kent n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Lancashire n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Leicestershire 4 6 7 10 4 
			 Lincolnshire 2 8 4 5 3 
			 London, City of 1 4 1 4 0 
			 Merseyside 1 8 15 13 3 
			 Metropolitan Police n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Norfolk 0 13 11 11 3 
			 Northamptonshire 4 10 6 17 6 
			 Northumbria 0 8 20 17 20 
			 North Wales 0 2 0 2 4 
			 North Yorkshire n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 2 3 2 4 
			 South Wales 1 10 8 9 3 
			 South Yorkshire 2 16 12 5 5 
			 Staffordshire 3 24 14 16 20 
			 Suffolk 1 23 17 15 8 
			 Surrey 0 12 8 2 6 
			 Sussex 1 6 13 9 14 
			 Thames Valley 8 10 19 24 26 
			 Warwickshire 1 3 11 5 17 
			 West Mercia 3 6 9 11 9 
			 West Midlands 2 0 53 33 46 
			 West Yorkshire 2 14 8 6 3 
			 Wiltshire 3 17 14 5 2 
			 Total 72 431 456 403 320

Special Constables

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much it cost (a) to train a special constable and (b) to maintain a special constable for a year of service in the last period for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: This information is not collected centrally.

Staff Vacancies

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department spent on advertising staff vacancies in (a) 2002 and (b) 2003.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information about the total spend on recruitment advertising for the Home Office, including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, for the financial years 2001–02, 2002–03 and 2003–04 is shown in the table.
	
		Spend on advertising (£)
		
			  2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Home Office (non-IND) 826,056 513,269 344,047 
			 Immigration and Nationality Directorate 519,610 413,829 352,158 
			 Total 1,345,666 927,098 696,205

Suffolk Police (Recorded Offences)

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences have been recorded by the Suffolk police force in each year since 1995, broken down by category.

Hazel Blears: The information requested in the given in the following tables.
	
		Table 1: Offences recorded by the police in Suffolk1995 to 2001–02 -- Number of offences
		
			 Period Total Violence against the person Sexual offences Robbery Burglary 
		
		
			 1995 38,233 2,050 357 129 7,114 
			 1996 37,094 2,136 351 156 6,384 
			 1997 35,639 2,448 400 141 6,094 
			 1998–991, 2 39,908 3,820 405 140 6,241 
			 1999–2000 43,355 5,303 389 223 6,214 
			 2000–01 44,317 6,395 421 177 5,738 
			 2001–02 50,492 7,354 486 289 6,346 
		
	
	
		
			 Period Theft and handling stolen goods Fraud and forgery Criminal damage Drug offences(20) Other offences 
		
		
			 1995 19,282 1,243 7,359 356 343 
			 1996 18,134 1,333 7,965 301 334 
			 1997 16,952 1,116 7,835 333 320 
			 1998–991, 2 17,097 2,099 7,898 1,581 627 
			 1999–2000 17,422 2,182 9,547 1,410 665 
			 2000–01 17,196 2,372 10,150 1,178 690 
			 2001–02 19,419 2,428 12,095 1,292 783 
		
	
	(20) Figures for 1995–97 cover trafficking in controlled drugs only. From 1998–99 onwards, they also include possession and other drug offences.
	(21) The number of crimes recorded using the expanded coverage and revised counting rules which came into effect on 1 April 1998.
	Note:
	The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years.
	
		Table 2: Offences recorded by the police in Suffolk2002–03 to 2003–04 -- Number of offences
		
			 Period Total Violence against the person Sexual offences Robbery Burglary 
		
		
			 2002–03 50,315 7,949 588 249 6,248 
			 2003–04 53,443 9,529 641 290 6,396 
		
	
	
		
			 Period Theft and handling stolen goods Fraud and forgery Criminal damage Drug offences Other offences 
		
		
			 2002–03 18,806 2,418 11,497 1,689 871 
			 2003–04 18,205 2,725 12,817 1,923 917 
		
	
	Note:
	The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years

Unlawful Killings

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many verdicts of unlawful killing have been returned by coroners' courts since the House of Lords Judgment in R v. HM Coroner for the Western District of Somerset and another ex-parte Middledon (2004); if he will list the cases in chronological order; which deaths resulted in or are expected to lead to prosecutions; and which Government department has primary responsibility for assessing the implications of the verdict and initiating action as necessary.

Paul Goggins: Information on verdicts is not held centrally on a month by month basis. The 2004 data will be published in spring 2005 but will not give the details of individual cases.
	Following a verdict at the coroners court of unlawful killing, the matter may be brought to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
	Where the matter had not previously been referred by police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the CPS would liaise with the police and review any evidence in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
	Where the CPS had previously reviewed the evidence and decided that in accordance with the Code there was insufficient evidence or that it was not in the public interest to prosecute, the CPS would reconsider its decision having regard to the coroner's verdict and any new evidence brought to their attention.

Welsh Language Scheme

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department's Welsh language scheme was approved by the Welsh Language Board; and on what date the scheme was implemented.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office Welsh Language Scheme was given the full endorsement of the Welsh Language Board on 14 January 2002.
	The Department does abide by the principles of the 1993 Welsh Language Act and seeks to ensure that it makes Welsh language versions of published materials available whenever appropriate.

Young Offenders

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) girls and (b) boys under 18 were (i) held on remand and (ii) serving a custodial sentence in each prison service establishment in England and Wales on 1 November.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 29 November 2004
	The requested information, as recorded on the Prison Service central IT system, for 31 October 2004 is provided in the following tables.
	
		Population of persons aged under 18 on remand in prison establishments, by gender and establishment England and Wales, 31 October 2004
		
			  Male Female 
		
		
			 Ashfield 34 0 
			 Brinsford 42 0 
			 Castington 22 0 
			 Eastwood Park 0 1 
			 Forest Bank 1 0 
			 Feltham 161 0 
			 Hindley 41 0 
			 Holloway 0 5 
			 Lancaster Farms 29 0 
			 New Hall 0 6 
			 Parc 18 0 
			 Stoke Heath 54 0 
			 Woodhill 1 0 
			 Warren Hill 34 0 
			 Werrington 1 0 
			 Wetherby 57 0 
		
	
	
		Population of persons aged under 18 under sentence in prison establishments, by gender and establishment England and Wales, 31 October 2004
		
			  Male Female 
		
		
			 Ashfield 210 0 
			 Brinsford 148 0 
			 Bullwood Hall 0 20 
			 Castington 114 0 
			 Eastwood Park 0 7 
			 Feltham 109 0 
			 Huntercombe 276 0 
			 Hindley 120 0 
			 Holloway 0 1 
			 Lancaster Farms 161 0 
			 New Hall 0 28 
			 Parc 1 0 
			 Stoke Heath 119 0 
			 Thorn Cross 35 0 
			 Warren Hill 148 0 
			 Werrington 127 0 
			 Wetherby 236 0

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in improving women's rights in Afghanistan.

Bill Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mr.Simmonds) on 11 October 2004, Official Report, columns 209–10W.
	Through the Global Opportunities Fund the Foreign and Commonwealth Office continues to support an ActionAid project promoting Afghan women's participation in governance—£80,000 in Financial Year 2004–05. And the UK Bar Human Rights Committee project of human rights training for legal practitioners with a specific focus on women's rights—£240,000 over three years.

Afghanistan

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will press the United States authorities to disclose the circumstances of the death of an Afghan at a detention site near Asadabad, in Kunar province, Afghanistan; whether any UK forces have been based at this detention site; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have raised with the US on a number of occasions our concerns about the alleged maltreatment of detainees in Afghanistan. We continue to press the US for further information on its detention policy and facilities there.
	No UK forces have been based at Asadabad.

Alex Boncayao Brigade

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the activities of the Alex Boncayao Brigade since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Philippine authorities have stated that the Alex Boncayao Brigade have disbanded. We agree with this assessment, although we are aware that individual members may still be responsible for violent activity in the Philippines. We will continue to monitor this situation.

British Detainees

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British (a) men and (b) women are being held in prisons in foreign countries, broken down by country.

Douglas Alexander: On 30 June 2004 there were 2,275 British men and 268 British women detained overseas. A breakdown of this information is available in the Library of the House.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what inquiries he has made of the Government of Burma about the internally displaced people in Shweygyn Township.

Douglas Alexander: We have not made representations to the State Peace and Development Council about this specific case.
	We are doing everything we can to press the Burmese authorities to begin a genuine process of reform involving all political parties and ethnic groups in Burma. A genuine transition to democracy is essential to address the underlying reasons for the displacement of people in Burma.
	The UK co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution of 23 December which condemned human rights violations suffered by ethnic groups in Burma. The Resolution called on the regime to end the policy of systematic enforced displacement of persons and other policies leading to displacement within Myanmar and refugee flows to neighbouring countries, to provide the necessary protection and assistance to internally displaced persons and to respect the right of refugees to voluntary, safe and dignified return monitored by appropriate international agencies."

China

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs for what reasons his Department supports the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China.

Bill Rammell: The Government supported the December 2003 European Council decision to review the EU's arms embargo on China, imposed in view of circumstances in 1989. At that time there was no EU Code of Conduct, under which most refusals for arms exports from the EU to China are now made.
	As my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary said on 12 January 2005 to the Quadripartite Committee, the Government could envisage embargo lift subject to satisfaction on the issues laid out in the European Council Conclusions of December 2004. This included the statement that
	the result of any decision should not be an increase of arms exports from EU member states to China, neither in quantitative nor in qualitative terms."
	Until the review process is complete, the Government continues to implement the Arms Embargo as set out by the then Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the late Derek Fatchett, in his reply on 3 June 1998, Official Report, columns 240–41.to my hon. Friend the Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker)

Corporal Punishment

Hilton Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether corporal punishment of children has been prohibited by legislation in each of the UK overseas territories (a) as a sentence of the courts and as a form of punishment in penal institutions for young offenders, (b) in schools, including private schools, (c) in other institutions and forms of care and (d) by parents in the home.

Douglas Alexander: holding answer 17 January 2005
	Judicial corporal punishment has been abolished throughout the Overseas Territories. The position on corporal punishment in schools, other institutions and the home is as follows:
	Anguilla:
	Corporal punishment and hard labour in penal institutions have been abolished. Under the Education Act, corporal punishment is allowed in schools under controlled conditions. Corporal punishment of children in the home is allowed under common law.
	Bermuda:
	The Abolition of Capital and Corporal Punishment Act (1999) abolished the use of corporal punishment on young offenders. There is no prohibition on corporal punishment in schools. Corporal punishment may not be carried out on any child in care, be it in a Children's Home or foster care. There is no prohibition on corporal punishment in the home.
	British Indian Ocean Territory:
	Although there are no children or other juveniles in the Territory, under British Indian Ocean Territory law, corporal punishment is not permitted under any circumstances.
	British Virgin Islands:
	Corporal punishment (including that of young offenders) is not permitted in prisons. In schools, corporal punishment can be carried out by the principal, deputy principal or by one senior teacher appointed in writing. Corporal punishment of children is not allowed in other institutions or forms of care. Corporal punishment of children is allowed within the home.
	Cayman Islands:
	Corporal punishment (including that of young offenders) is not allowed by law in the prison system. Corporal punishment is allowed by law in all public and private schools in the Cayman Islands, only where no other punishment is considered suitable or effective by the principal, and may only be administered by the principal or any teacher appointed in writing by the principal for that purpose. An entry must be made in a punishment book kept in each school. The corporal punishment of children is allowed within the home. However, where there is excessive punishment of children, the parent(s) may be prosecuted for assault.
	Falkland Islands:
	Corporal punishment of all prisoners (including young offenders) in the prison system is prohibited by law. Corporal punishment is also prohibited by law in public sector schools. There is no prohibition on corporal punishment in private sector schools (of which there are none in the Territory), in other forms of care, or by carers. However, administratively, the Falkland Islands Government forbids corporal punishment of children in the forms of care it operates. There is no prohibition on corporal punishment in the home.
	Gibraltar:
	Corporal punishment is not administered in prison. In both public and private educational establishments, and other institutions which care for children and young people, corporal punishment is not permitted. Although corporal punishment in the home is not expressly forbidden by law, any such punishment must be proportionate, and there have been cases in which parents have been convicted for disproportionate punishment.
	Montserrat:
	Corporal punishment is not permitted for young offenders, or in schools or other institutions or forms of care for children. There are no laws to prohibit corporal punishment in the home.
	Pitcairn Islands:
	Corporal punishment of prisoners below the age of majority is not allowed by law within the mainstream prison system. Corporal punishment is not permitted in schools or other institutions or forms of care for children. Striking or using force against a child for the purpose of discipline or punishment is prohibited by law.
	St. Helena and Dependencies:
	Corporal punishment of young offenders is not allowed by law within the prison system. Corporal punishment of children is not permitted in schools, other institutions or forms of care, or in the home.
	Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus:
	Corporal punishment in penal institutions for young offenders is prohibited. The applicable SBA legislation governing the education of non-service children does not prohibit corporal punishment in schools. However, the education of non-service children in the SBAs is carried out on behalf of the SBA Administration by the Republic of Cyprus, whose law does not permit corporal punishment. Although this law does not have any legal status in the SBAs, the teachers in such schools are likely to consider themselves bound to follow the Republican Law when working in the SBA, and would not use corporal punishment. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was only recently extended to the SBAs, and the Administration is currently auditing its laws to amend those which are incompatible with the ECHR. As part of this review, laws on education will be amended so that they are in line with those of the Republic of Cyprus: this law, once in place, will prohibit corporal punishment in schools in the SBAs. The law is expected to be enacted by May of this year. Corporal punishment in other institutions and forms of care is not expressly prohibited. This field of work is carried out on behalf of the SBA Administration by the Republic of Cyprus. At present Cyprus law. in common with existing legislation in the SBA, permits corporal punishment by those with custody of children. However, a new law under consideration in Cyprus would prohibit corporal punishment entirely. In practice, the authorities in Cyprus do not permit any form of corporal punishment to be imposed in institutions caring for children. Corporal punishment in the home is not expressly prohibited but is allowed to the extent of reasonable chastisement.
	Turks and Caicos Islands:
	Corporal punishment of juvenile prisoners is not allowed by law. Corporal punishment is permitted in schools, provided that it is not administered in a manner which is degrading or injurious. The same laws which apply to schools would also apply to other institutions. There are however no juvenile institutions other than schools in the Territory. Corporal punishment of children in the home is permitted, provided it does not go beyond reasonable chastisement.
	British Antarctic Territory; South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands:
	These Territories have no settled population.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the case of Linda Orams and the extent to which judgments of the civil courts in Cyprus are enforceable in the United Kingdom.

Denis MacShane: It would be inappropriate to comment on the Orams' case while legal proceedings are in progress and the outcome is uncertain. The Government is of course following developments closely.
	Through our travel advice, website www.fco.gov.uk and in response to queries, we explain the unique circumstances in Cyprus and strongly advise potential purchasers of property to seek independent qualified legal advice. We also explain that the non-recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" and the possibility of a future political settlement in Cyprus could have significant practical or financial implications for those considering buying property in the north.

Departmental Expenditure

George Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent by his Department on lighting in each year since 1997.

Douglas Alexander: Figures for spending, by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on lighting in each year since 1997 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Egypt

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Government of Egypt regarding the kidnapping of Egyptian Christian girls and women for forced conversion to Islam; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: Our embassy in Cairo took part in a joint demarche with our EU partners in December 2004 on issues of difficulty faced by converts in obtaining ID cards. As part of that demarche, our embassy also raised the issue of religious persecution, with particular reference to the alleged case of abduction of a Coptic Priest's wife in Beheira.
	The British Government are committed to promoting tolerance and mutual respect between religions. Although the majority of people in Egypt are Muslim, there is a large Christian minority who are free to practise their own religion. We are aware that there are isolated incidents of violence against the Coptic Christian community in Egypt and where appropriate, along with EU partners and others, we raise our concerns about these incidents with the Egyptian authorities. We also discuss these incidents with the Coptic Church in Egypt.

EU Fraud

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he made during negotiations on the European Constitution on (a) combating fraud and (b) whistleblowing; and if he will make a statement on his policy towards implementing European Convention document 844/03, Systems of Mismanagement, as a basis for reform of the anti-fraud system.

Denis MacShane: 85 per cent. of the EU budget is spent and distributed by Ministries of EU member states who are responsible for accusations of fraud. The Government have taken a lead in urging the Commission to put in place mechanisms to expose fraud and during discussions in the convention and negotiations for the new treaty insisted that the Treaty preserves existing arrangements for tackling fraud and protecting whistle-blowers, including Eurojust, the Court of Auditors, and instruments such as the European Communities Staff Regulations, as amended in May 2004, which provide that an official shall not suffer any prejudicial effects from making a disclosure in accordance with the Regulations. The Government are not making further comments on the numerous papers submitted by organisations and individuals to the secretariat of the convention.

EU Fraud

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the European Commission on the combating of fraud within the institutions.

Denis MacShane: The Government frequently encourages the Commission and other member states, in line with their Treaty obligations, to take effective anti-fraud measures to protect the EU budgets.
	As the hon. Member will know, the European Court of Auditors checks the EU accounts each year. Its Report for 2003, as in previous years, found that the accounts
	faithfully reflect the revenue and expenditure of the Communities for this financial year".
	The Court again found irregularities" in the accounts, which prevented it from certifying the accounts completely. However the Court noted that 80 per cent. of the irregularities relate to accounting practices in some member states including the UK, not in those of the Commission, and also emphasised that the irregularities do not reflect the level of fraud.
	Moreover, the Commission this year plans to implement an ambitious programme of reform, which we believe will bring its accounting practice up to the highest international standards.

EU Fraud

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the European Commission on the fair treatment of whistleblowers within the European Community institutions.

Denis MacShane: As I informed the hon. Member in my written answers of 10 and 13 January 2005, Official Report, columns 13W and 643W, the Government believe that a measure of protection should be offered to employees making such disclosures in good faith. We therefore took an active part in formulating the European Communities Staff Regulations, of May 2004, which provide that an official shall not suffer any prejudicial effects from making a disclosure in accordance with the Regulations. We consider this a comparable measure of protection to that enjoyed by UK officials in Crown Service.

EU Fraud

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the cases being investigated by OLAF pertaining to illegal exports to Iraq referred to on page 125 of the Court of Auditors annual report for 2003.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	The European Court of Auditors cannot provide a greater level of specific information to the outside world than is provided in its adopted reports. This is in order to protect the professional relationship between auditor and auditee. It would also be inappropriate to comment until OLAF have completed their investigations.

European Constitution

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2005, Official Report, columns 1020–21W, on the European Constitution, if he will publish the minutes of meetings held with European Commission officials pertaining to the provision of information relating to the constitutional treaty for the European Union.

Denis MacShane: It is not our practice to publish the content of private discussions between UK officials and officials from international organisations.

Iran

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the UK's policy is on Iran.

Bill Rammell: Our policy towards Iran, like that of the European Union, is one of constructive but critical engagement. We maintain a robust dialogue on issues of concern such as Iran's nuclear programme, human rights record, approach to the fight against terrorism and attitude towards the Middle East Peace Process. Where possible we aim to support reform in Iran.

Iran

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his (a) European Union and (b) US counterparts with regard to the negotiation of a new Trade and Co-operation Agreement with Iran; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed the European Union's approach to the draft EU/Iran Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) with his EU counterparts on many occasions, including at the General Affairs and External Relations Council meetings on 22 November and 13 December 2004. He often discusses policy towards Iran with US interlocutors.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government have taken to assist the interim Iraqi Government in encouraging the Sunni minority to participate in the forthcoming elections in Iraq.

Bill Rammell: Throughout the transitional period we have worked closely with the Iraqi Interim Government, and a wide cross-section of Iraqis, to encourage the broadest participation in the elections. Officials met regularly with representatives from all Iraq's communities. We have also encouraged countries in the region to use their influence to highlight the benefits to all Iraqis of participation in the elections.

Iraq

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many weapons of mass destruction Iraq possessed at the time of the 2003 invasion.

Denis MacShane: As my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has said publicly, the Government acknowledge and accept the conclusion of the Iraq survey group that Iraq did not possess stockpiles of Weapons of Mass Destruction at the time of the recent conflict.

Iraq

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many coalition forces are operating in Iraq; and what changes are planned over the next two years.

Bill Rammell: About 30 nations currently contribute around 175,000 troop to the UN-mandated Multi-National Force in Iraq (MNF-I). UK and US contributions have been augmented over the election period. The MNF works closely with the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). As the capacity and capability of the ISF improves, the need for MNF support will gradually decrease. Several MNF-I partners have time-bound mandates: some of these may be renewed, other countries may prefer to switch their focus to, for example, the NATO Training Mission.

Iraq

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking (a) to encourage a satisfactory outcome to the strike by Basra rail workers and (b) to seek the safe return of the kidnapped rail workers.

Bill Rammell: Our consulate in Basra is investigating media reports of a strike by Basra rail workers. However, this is a matter for the Iraqi Interim Government. The kidnappings of rail workers is deplorable. I strongly condemn these horrific attacks which target those Iraqis who are working hard for their country. Such attacks are aimed at depriving the Iraqi people of the peaceful and democratic future they deserve.

Iraq

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with the Interim Iraqi Government on the subject of the recent abuse suffered by Iraqi trade unionists, with particular reference to trade unionists in the Basra area.

Bill Rammell: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave him today (UIN 210829). We have asked our consulate in Basra to pursue these reports with the Iraqi authorities.
	The Government attaches importance to developing trade unions and civil society. The transitional administrative law makes provision for the right of all Iraqis to join unions. At least 12 national trade unions have already been established. We are working with the Department for International Development on capacity building of Iraqi trade unions through their Civil Society Fund together with Unison and the International Centre for Trade Union Rights.

Middle East

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what modifications to the route of the separation barrier between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory have been made following his representations to the Israeli Government.

Bill Rammell: The Israeli government has said it will revise the route of the barrier. This follows a decision by the Israeli High Court on 30 June 2004 and considerable international concern about the impact of the barrier on the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The new route has yet to be published. In the meantime, we continue to express our view that the barrier construction in the Occupied Territories is illegal and damages the prospects of a peaceful settlement based on a two-state solution.

Middle East

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the effect of the election of a new Palestinian leader on his Department's policy on Israel and Palestine.

Bill Rammell: We welcome the success of the recent Palestinian presidential elections, and congratulate President Abu Mazen. Our policy, as made clear during my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's visit to Washington on 11–12 November 2004, has been: to support Palestinian presidential elections; to help the Palestinians improve their infrastructure; to support Prime Minister Sharon's disengagement plan and to help both parties implement the Roadmap, to achieve a two-state solution and a comprehensive and just settlement. We hope that President Abu Mazen's victory with a strong majority will provide an opportunity to move the Middle East Peace Process forward.

Middle East

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations he has made to the Israeli Government concerning the expansion of settlements in the Occupied Territories.

Bill Rammell: We have had frequent discussions with Israel regarding the issue of settlement expansion. My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean have made clear to the Israeli Government our view that settlements are illegal under international law. The Roadmap requires that Israel freeze settlement expansion and dismantle outposts erected since March 2001.

Middle East

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli Government concerning new roads in the Occupied Territories which can only be used by Israeli settlers.

Bill Rammell: We oppose the construction of new roads in the Occupied Territories which can only be used by Israeli settlers. Construction of such roads, and wider settlement expansion, is illegal. We continue to make representations to the Israeli Government to this effect.

Middle East

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli Government concerning funding for the proposed cross border industrial zones.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed cross border industrial zones with the Israeli Government during his visit to Israel in November 2004. We favour the development of industrial zones which could benefit the economies of both Israel and the Palestinians.

Middle East

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Israeli Government concerning a port and an airport for the Gaza Strip.

Bill Rammell: During their recent visits to Israel, my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary set out the importance of successful disengagement. A port and airport in the Gaza strip will be a crucial element in the economic development of a viable Palestinian state. We continue, both bilaterally and with the international community, to engage with Israel to stress the importance of Israel enabling such facilities to be developed.

Milliyetci Hareket Partisi

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the activities of the Milliyetci Hareket Partisi since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The Milliyetci Hareket Partisi (MHP) is a far-right nationalist party that currently holds no seats in the Turkish Parliament. An ANAR poll published on 18 January 2005 suggests that support for the MHP is still below the 10 per cent. threshold required for a party to enter parliament. Their attempts to block the passage of key EU harmonisation legislation on the death penalty and minority language rights when they were part of the previous coalition government was a matter of concern. The MHP has been particularly vehement in its rejection of any kind of cultural rights for the Kurds. The MHP was recently in the news when a crowd of its supporters disrupted a Greek Orthodox religious ceremony in Istanbul on 6 January 2005.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the activities of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: We welcome the reduction in violence in Mindanao that has accompanied the ceasefire, adopted by the Philippine Government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in July 2003.
	We are pleased at the resumption of the peace process. We have consistently urged both sides to work towards a lasting solution to the conflict and that this can only be achieved through peaceful negotiation.

Nicaragua

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the UN-brokered Nicaraguan agreement regarding the position of President Enrique Bolanos and the Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega.

Bill Rammell: We welcome the agreement signed on 12 January between the President and main Congressional parties, which has established a new forum for national dialogue in Nicaragua and permits President Bolanos to complete his term of office. We hope that a new spirit of cooperation will allow the Government to focus on the pressing needs of the Nicaraguan people. We will continue to monitor the situation closely together with our EU partners and the rest of the donor community.

Peru

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of accusations of torture and killing levelled at the Administration of President Alberto Fujimori in Peru; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have not made an independent assessment of the accusations of crimes committed by the Peruvian Government during President Fujimori's period in office. Our information is based on the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), published in August 2003. The TRC investigated the process of violence of political origin experienced in Peru between 1980 and 2000. According to the report
	the TRC has reasonable grounds to affirm that President Alberto Fujimori, his adviser Vladimiro Montesinos, and high level officials of the National Intelligence Service are criminally responsible for the assassinations, forced disappearances and massacres perpetrated by the Colina" death squad".
	Vladimiro Montesinos is currently incarcerated in Peru, awaiting a trial against him for the alleged crimes above. Alberto Fujimori is currently in Japan and has been since 2000. The Peruvian Government are seeking his extradition to face the charges detailed above.

Peru

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the number of people allegedly (a) detained, (b) tortured and (c) executed by (i) the Sendero Luminoso, (ii) Movimento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru and (iii) the security forces of Peru during the 1980s and 1990s; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: We have not made an independent assessment of the number of people affected by the internal conflict in Peru during the 1980s and 1990s. Our information is based on the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission published in August 2003. The TRC estimates (with a 5 per cent. margin of error) that the most probable number of victims who died in the violence is 69,280. Of these, Sendero Luminoso was responsible for 54 per cent. and the Movimento Revolucionario Tupac Amaru 1.5 per cent. and the remainder due to the Armed Forces, Police and Self-Defence Committees.
	We have actively supported the efforts of the TRC. This support has helped develop institutional capacity within this Commission in the regions most affected by the violence. The Peruvian authorities are now in the process of implementing the TRC's recommendations. We are currently supporting the work of the Human Rights Ombudsman's Office and the National Co-ordinator for Human Rights in this aim.

Safe Countries

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions have taken place between Her Majesty's Government and the European Union on assembling a new list of safe countries.

Douglas Alexander: Discussion of the EU safe country list has been postponed until after the adoption of the proposal for a Council directive on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status. We await the outcome of consultation with the European Parliament on this directive.

Stationery

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much his Department has spent on stationery in each of the last seven years.

Bill Rammell: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office spent £1,345,639.51 on stationery in financial year 2004–05. This was made up as follows:
	desktop stationery £573,794.80;
	computer consumables £338,146.38;
	and magnetic media £251,171 and paper £182,526.36.
	The information requested for the six years prior to 2004–05 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Tsunami Relief

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) financial and (b) other assistance is offered by the Government to the families of British citizens who have died in the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

Douglas Alexander: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has put in place an assistance package which is available to the families of British citizens who have died in the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.
	The package may contain any of the following elements depending on the case:
	Repatriation of bodies or mortal remains to country of choice (via the FCO's approved company).
	Return luggage costs of those who have died (usually personal effects).
	Death certificates.
	Travel Assistance for families:
	Return business class airfares to the airport nearest the site of the incident for two members of the victim's family
	Local travel in-country
	Accommodation in-country for five nights
	Travel insurance
	Longer-term assistance for families:
	Assistance with psychological support services
	FCO officials and UK police personnel are working with the relevant local authorities to identify and repatriate the bodies of British victims of the tsunami as quickly as possible. Over 300 police family liaison officers have been assigned to bereaved families.

UK Overseas Territories

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit UK Overseas Territories during the next 12months.

Bill Rammell: Foreign engagements for my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and other Ministers are kept under constant review. It is not our practice to announce such visits until they are firm. Because of the unpredictable nature of world events, final decisions on overseas visits are often not possible until very shortly before the day of travel and an announcement is sometimes not possible until a visit is under way.

Ukraine

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports the Government have received concerning the role of the Ukrainian Security Services following the first run of the Ukrainian presidential election.

Denis MacShane: The Government followed events in Ukraine closely during the period of the elections. It received regular reports on the situation that covered, among other things, the role of the Ukrainian Security Services.

Ukraine

Mohammad Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's relations with the Ukraine following the recent election.

Denis MacShane: The Government looks forward to strengthening relations with Ukraine both bilaterally and through the EU and NATO. I began this process when I represented the United Kingdom at President Yushchenko's inauguration in Kiev last Sunday and had talks with senior officials who are expected to take up ministerial posts. I expressed our Government's support for President Yushchenko's ambitious programme to develop Ukraine as a European democratic market economy under the rule of law.

UN Humanitarian Programmes

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what (a) discussions he had and (b) measures his Department is taking in the United Nations to ensure that future UN humanitarian programmes are not abused.

Bill Rammell: The Government takes very seriously all allegations of abuse and corruption concerning any UN programme or activity. We are co-operating fully with the Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) set up by the UN to investigate allegations relating to the UN's Iraq Oil for Food programme. We will study the IIC's findings and recommendations carefully. The UN and its members need to draw lessons from past experience to improve future performance.
	The UK is also pressing for full information on recent allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation in UN peacekeeping missions. The UN Secretary-General has shown determination to deal with this problem, and appointed Prince Zeid of Jordan as a special adviser. Prince Zeid's report will produce recommendations to ensure that these issues are properly dealt with in theatre and in the UN.

Venezuela/Colombia

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of (a) relations between Columbia and Venezuela and (b) the implications ofthose relations for (i) UK-Venezuelan relations, (ii) UK-Columbian relations and (iii) the wider region.

Bill Rammell: Relations between Colombia and Venezuela are currently strained, following the capture of a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (PARC) on Venezuelan territory. Venezuela has recalled its ambassador to Colombia and suspended future commercial projects between the two countries. We understand that other regional governments, including Peru and Brazil, have offered to mediate in the dispute. We hope that the Colombian and Venezuelan Governments are able to resolve this dispute swiftly and amicably.
	We have no reason to believe that the current dispute between Colombia and Venezuela will impact on our bilateral relationship with either country. We continue to work closely with both countries on issues of mutual interest.
	Venezuela and Colombia are the largest economies in the Andean region and have an important role to play in the fight against terrorism and narcotics trafficking. It is important in the regional context that the two countries manage to overcome their current problems and resume close and constructive relations.

Welsh Language Scheme

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department's Welsh language scheme was approved by the Welsh Language Board; and on what date the scheme was implemented.

Jack Straw: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not have a Welsh Language Scheme. However, we translate certain key publications into Welsh. In 2004 these included the Guide to the European Union" and Wales: European Enlargement".

Western Sahara

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects a UN referendum to be held on the future of the Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The United Kingdom fully supports the efforts of the UN Secretary General and his Special Representative Alvaro de Soto to find a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Western Sahara dispute which provides the people of the Western Sahara with an opportunity to exercise their right to self-determination. There are no plans for a UN referendum to be held in the near future.
	We believe UN efforts to find a solution to the dispute should be maintained and continue to urge all parties to the dispute to engage constructively with the UN.

Yellow-Red Overseas Organisation

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of the (a) identity and (b) threat represented by the Yellow-Red Overseas Organization; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The Government recognises the serious threat posed by terrorism in the South East Asian region. We continuously assess the threat from terrorist cells. But for reasons which the honourable Member will understand, we do not publish these assessments.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Community Legal Service

David Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what his estimate is of total spending on the Community Legal Service's Partnership Initiative Budget in each year from 2002–03 to 2007–08; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Partnership Initiative Budget (PIB) is a unique funding stream which has enabled local organisations, engaged with their Community Legal Service Partnerships (CLSPs), to develop projects that improve access to advice and information for vulnerable people, focusing on local needs. Funding has been allocated over two bidding rounds, with each project attracting up to three years' funding. There will be no further rounds of the PIB.
	Approximately £18.4 million has been committed to PIB projects over two funding rounds.
	Approximate spend to date:
	2001–02: £300,000
	2002–03: £3 million
	2003–04: £5 million
	Projected spend:
	2004–05: £5.1 million
	2005–06: £3.6 million
	2006–07: £1.4 million
	From 1 April (the beginning of the SR04 period) we anticipate that no more than £5 million will be paid out to the remaining PIB projects.

Community Legal Service

David Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what action he is taking to prevent over-billing by solicitors using the Community Legal Service; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) monitors whether costs claimed by suppliers are reasonable, either by individual bill submitted (for civil representation) or by auditing a sample of files (for controlled work under an LSC contract).
	If the costs claimed are judged as reasonable, the supplier is assessed as Category 1. Where a supplier is assessed as either Category 2 or 3—the lowest ratings under the LSC's costs assessment audit—the LSC recovers the amounts over claimed from the supplier. If the supplier gets a Category 3 rating they are put on notice that they will be audited again in six months. If they are still rated as Category 3 on a re-audit, their contract will be terminated.
	Under the new Tailored Fixed Fee Scheme, which will become mandatory in April 2005, the LSC will be introducing management information systems that will enable them to identify trends and take action where clients or the fund may be at risk. The systems will allow the LSC to monitor reported and actual costs of cases, changes in case mix and duration of cases, and changes in disbursements incurred.

Legal Aid Debts

David Laws: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what his estimate is of the outstanding value of Legal Aid debts; and what action is being taken to recover these debts.

David Lammy: The Legal Services Commission had debts due to it at the end of the financial year 2003–04 of £262 million. Much of this debt—around 72 per cent.—secured by the registration of a statutory charge against property and is not, generally, immediately collectable. The LSC allows the funded client to postpone the operation of the charge, subject to certain conditions, and the debt is not repayable until the property is sold or upon the death of the client.
	Cases relating to the statutory charge have since 1988 attached interest. The rate of interest is linked to the Bank of England base rate and currently stands at 5 per cent. simple interest. £50 million of the gross debt due to the Commission relates to interest.
	Other debts due to the LSC are normally immediately repayable and are pursued by a debt recovery team. In 2003–04, the LSC successfully recovered £28 million worth of debt. Some of these debts may be owed by funded clients (for example unpaid contributions towards funding legal aid) and are difficult to recover given the limited financial circumstances of the clients.

Referendum

Oliver Heald: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what (a) guidelines and (b) legislative provisions regulate whether a referendum may be held during a (i) general election, (ii) local election and (iii) devolved Parliament or regional assembly election; and if he will make a statement.

Christopher Leslie: There are no Government guidelines or legislative provisions regulating whether a referendum may be held during a general election, local election or devolved Parliament or regional assembly election. The European Union Bill includes provision to allow for combination of polls if the referendum were to take place on the same day as an election or other referendum, as a contingency measure. The Government are aware of the views of the Electoral Commission published in 2003 ahead of Parliamentary and local government elections in Scotland and the Assembly elections in Wales and Northern Ireland that referendums should not be held at the same time as other major polls.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Admissions Criteria

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will publish the consultation document on alternative admissions criteria to post-primary schools.

Barry Gardiner: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave on 27 January 2005, Official Report, column 516W, to the hon. Member for Strangford (Mrs.Robinson).

Andersonstown News Group

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many grant applications have been made by the Andersonstown News Group in the last six months to (a) Invest NI and (b) other Government agencies or department.

Barry Gardiner: Three applications have been received from July 2004 to date; (a) one application was received by Invest NI and (b) two were received by North/South Implementation Bodies. Details are as follows:
	(a) Invest NI considered an application from the Andersonstown News Group (ANG) for assistance under the Strategic Development Programme for which Invest NI contributes 60 per cent. of the consultancy costs. The ANG subsequently decided to withdraw the application.
	(b) InterTradelreland received an application for funding from ANG under the Acumen Programme. A Letter of Offer was issued to ANG on 24 December 2004 and accepted on 29 December 2004.
	Foras na Gaeilge, the Irish Language Agency of the North/South Language Body received one grant application from Preas an Phobail in November 2004, which was unsuccessful.

Autism

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects that the autistic spectrum disorders sub-group of the Mental Health Review will produce its report; and if this report will have the same significance as those of the Working Committees.

Angela Smith: The Review of Mental Health and Learning Disability is an independent review and it is for review members to decide on how they deal with issues relating to autistic spectrum disorder. I understand that a report on autistic spectrum disorder, based largely on the outcome of a conference held in December 2004, will be considered by the review Steering Committee at the end of February. The Steering Committee will then decide whether this will be issued as a separate report and, if so, the timescale for finalising and presenting to the Department.

Children First Strategy

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he plans to publish the Children First Strategy for Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: Plans are well advanced for a review of the Children First Strategy, which was originally published in 1999. Terms of Reference have been established and it is expected that a report on the review should be completed by the end of May 2005.

Cold Weather Premium

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people over the age of 75 were claiming the additional cold weather premium at the latest date for which figures are available.

John Spellar: The Social Security Agency does not provide a specific additional cold weather premium" although it does provide cold weather payments and winter fuel payments.
	It is not possible to calculate the number of people over the age of 75 claiming either of the above. However 50,000 persons over 80 qualified for an additional payment.

Control Orders

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department about the introduction and application of control orders in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Home Affairs wrote to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland with an outline of his proposed policy on 21 January 2005. Until detailed legislative proposals are brought forward, it will not be possible to assess the applicability of Control Orders to Northern Ireland.

Currie School

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what financial assistance was provided to the Currie primary school in North Belfast in this financial year.

Barry Gardiner: I am advised by the Belfast Education and Library Board that Currie primary school has received recurrent funding of £314, 280 to-date, an additional £37,742 under the Interface Schools Initiative and £2,000 for landlord maintenance in this financial year.

Dentistry

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what incentives he has assessed to encourage dentists in the Province to work within the NHS.

Angela Smith: The health service provides a full range of dental services through general dental practitioners, the community dental service and the hospital dental service. In terms of general dental practitioners there is a dentist for every 2,400 people here, which is better provision than in England, Scotland and Wales.
	No incentives are currently required to attract dentists to the health service. However, the General Dental Services, through which the vast majority of primary dental care is delivered, is in need of reorganisation in order to provide a quality service to patients, address the oral health needs of the population and provide a rewarding career for dental professionals. This is being taken forward through the work on the development of a Primary Care Dental Strategy. As part of that work, consideration will be given to whether any new contractual arrangements, including those currently being developed in England, should be introduced here.

Eating Disorders

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects specialist eating disorders teams to be operational within each board area in the Province.

Angela Smith: The recruitment process is currently ongoing and it is expected that team-members should be appointed by May. However, due to the nature of the very specialized work, further in-service training may be required before the teams are fully operational.

Firearms Order

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will place a copy of the equality impact assessment of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 in the Library.

Ian Pearson: An equality impact assessment of the Firearms (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 was not carried out. A previous screening exercise on firearms policy had not indicated an adverse impact on any of the groups listed in Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Fraud Losses

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on losses from fraud affecting the health service in the Province.

Angela Smith: Information on losses from theft and fraud affecting the Province's health service in each of the last two years is provided in the following table.
	
		£ million
		
			 Year ending 31 March: Reported losses due to theft and fraud (22) Estimate of loss due to incorrect claiming of prescription exemption(23) 
		
		
			 2004 61,721 8.0 
			 2003 121,204 10.0 
		
	
	(22)This represents the amounts reported in the annual accounts of the Department, HSS Boards and HSS Trusts. The Department does not collect information on losses relating to theft and fraud separately.
	(23)It should be noted that the estimate of loss due to incorrect claiming of exemptions from prescription charges, will include those losses due to error as well as fraud.
	The Department remains committed to the continuing reduction of loss of funds due to fraud and theft.

Health and Social Services Trusts

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the total cost of administration of the health and social services trusts in Northern Ireland is in the 2004–05 financial year.

Angela Smith: Information on the total cost of administration in the 2004–05 financial year is not available at this time, as the financial year runs until the 31 March 2005.

Health Staff Checks

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland under what circumstances police checks are conducted on applicants for (a) permanent local trust and (b) agency health care staff posts.

Angela Smith: Police checks are not routinely carried out on applicants for permanent local trust or agency health care staff posts. However, the Department of Health Social Services and Public Safety currently recommends that pre-employment checks are carried out where potential employees will have substantial unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults.

Hospital Cleaning

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much each health trust in the Province spent on cleaning in the last 12 months.

Angela Smith: Provisional figures for Health and Social Service Trust expenditure on cleaning in the 2003–04 financial year are shown in the following table. However, the figures do not include any expenditure on cleaning services that are contracted out, as these cannot be separately identified.
	
		Expenditure on cleaning by HSS trust 2003–04 (provisional)—year ended March 2004
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 Altnalgelvin HSS Trust 221 
			 Armagh and Dungannon HSS Trust 97 
			 Belfast City Hospital HSS Trust 332 
			 Causeway HSS Trust 249 
			 Craigavon area Hospital HSS Trust 83 
			 Craigavon and Banbridge Community HSS Trust 35 
			 Down Lisburn HSS Trust 178 
			 Foyle HSS Trust 172 
			 Greenpark HSS Trust 51 
			 Homefirst HSS Trust 207 
			 Mater Infirmorum HSS Trust 66 
			 Newry and Mourne HSS Trust 101 
			 NI Ambulance Service 16 
			 North and West Belfast HSS Trust 188 
			 Royal Group of Hospitals HSS Trust 582 
			 South and East Belfast HSS Trust 242 
			 Sperrin Lakeland HSS Trust 215 
			 Ulster and Community Hospitals HSS Trust 254 
			 United HSS Trust 241 
			 Total 3,529

MRI Scans

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland pursuant to the answer of 10 January 2005, Official Report, column 252W, on MRI scans/scanners, what action he has taken following the offer by an independent provider to carry out additional MRI scans on a not-for-profit basis.

Angela Smith: The Department has had preliminary discussions with an independent provider of MRI services to explore options for the provision of additional MRI scans to patients in Northern Ireland. Further consideration is being given to the costs and the level of demand.

Neighbourhood Renewal

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress in implementing the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy in North Belfast.

John Spellar: Since the launch of Government's Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy in June 2003 work has been going on to ensure that the infrastructure needed to take Neighbourhood Renewal forward in North Belfast is in place. Discussions on the ground are taking place in each of the four neighbourhood renewal areas and the establishment of the Neighbourhood Partnership Boards is already underway.
	A final Implementation Plan for Neighbourhood Renewal will be published in March 2005.

Peace Funding

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether, under the extension of PEACE II funding to Northern Ireland, there will be measures in respect of (a) child care and (b) training, in child care provision in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: The PEACE II extension proposals include the continuation of the existing Measure 1.5, Positive Action for Women as a separate measure in the Programme which will continue to support eligible child care projects including those offering training for women in child care or other skills leading to employment. Further skills projects generally, for men or/and women, will also continue to be eligible under a separate measure in the extended Programme.

Peace Funding

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which organisations have received funding via the European Communities PEACE II programme, broken down by party political affiliations.

Ian Pearson: The PEACE II Programme does not fund political parties or political activities. Groups and individuals, including those with party political affiliations, can apply for funding but must demonstrate that their project(s) meet the Programme's eligibility and selection criteria. As a result information on the party political affiliations of such groups and individuals is not collected as part of the Programme's application process and is therefore is not available.
	A full list of applicant organisations and projects is available on the Special EU Programmes Body Website www.seupb.org

Pension Credit

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the number of people claiming pension credit in each constituency in Northern Ireland;
	(2)  how many people in each Northern Ireland constituency were claiming pension credit at the latest date for which figures are available.

John Spellar: The following table shows the actual amount of people claiming pension credit in each parliamentary constituency in Northern Ireland as of 13 December 2004.
	
		
			 Parliamentary constituency Number 
		
		
			 Belfast East 4,480 
			 Belfast North 6,679 
			 Belfast South 3,780 
			 Belfast West 6,487 
			 East Antrim 3,620 
			 East Londonderry 4,561 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 5,771 
			 Foyle 5,624 
			 Lagan Valley 3,945 
			 Mid Ulster 5,271 
			 Newry and Armagh 6,052 
			 North Antrim 5,449 
			 North Down 3,536 
			 South Antrim 3,802 
			 South Down 5,144 
			 Strangford 4,173 
			 Upper Bann 5,539 
			 West Tyrone 5,272 
			 Postcode missing 488 
			 Total 89,673

Police

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the Government will extend financial assistance to the Police Federation for Northern Ireland to support the group legal action by its members regarding post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by RUC officers in the execution of their duties.

Ian Pearson: The Government have no plans to provide financial assistance to the Police Federation for Northern Ireland to support the legal action to which the hon. Lady refers.

Police

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers are serving in Northern Ireland.

Ian Pearson: As of the 26 January 2005, the number of police officers serving in the PSNI in Northern Ireland is as follows:
	
		
			 Police officers Number 
		
		
			 Regular officers (including those seconded into the PSNI and excluding those seconded out of the PSNI 7,452 
			 Full time reserve 1,410 
			 Part time reserve and part time regular constables 907

Police

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many police officers from Northern Ireland have served in mainland Europe during 2004.

Ian Pearson: The Police Service of Northern Ireland deployed five officers to mainland Europe in 2004. These officers provided professional support and expertise to ongoing operations in Kosovo and Bosnia.

School Interface Funding

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which schools in North Belfast have received funding to address interface problems in each year since 2000.

Barry Gardiner: The schools in North Belfast which have received funding to address interface problems in each year since 2000 are:
	
		
			 Financial year School 
		
		
			 2000–01 None 
			 2001–02 Holy Cross Girls' primary school 
			 2002–03 Wheatfield primary school 
			   
			 (From December 2001) Ballysillan primary school 
			  Cliftonville primary school 
			  Currie primary school 
			  Grove primary school 
			  Holy Cross Boys' primary school 
			  Holy Family primary school 
			  Lowood primary school 
			  Mercy primary school 
			  Our Lady's Deanby Gardens primary school 
			  Sacred Heart primary school 
			  St. Mary's Star of the Sea primary school 
			  St. Patrick's primary school 
			   
			 (From March 2002) Ben Mhadagain Prep 
			  Bunscoil Bheann Mhadagain 
			  Carr's Glen primary school 
			  Cavehill primary school 
			  Cedar Lodge Special primary school 
			  Edmund Rice (Christian Brothers)  primary school 
			  Ligoniel primary school 
			  Our Lady of Lourdes primary school 
			  Seaview primary school 
			  St. Gabriel's college 
			  St. Therese of Lisieux primary school 
			  St. Vincent de Paul primary school 
			  Star of the Sea Girls' primary school 
			   
			 2003–04 Holy Cross Girls' primary school 
			  Wheatfield primary school 
			  Ballysillan primary school 
			  Cliftonville primary school 
			  Currie primary school 
			  Grove primary school 
			  Holy Cross Boys' primary school 
			  Holy Family primary school 
			  Lowood primary school 
			  Mercy primary school 
			  Our Lady's Deanby Gardens primary school 
			  Sacred Heart primary school 
			  St. Mary's Star of the Sea primary school 
			  St. Patrick's primary school 
			  Bunscoil Bheann Mhadagain 
			  Carr's Glen primary school 
			  Cavehill primary school 
			  Cedar Lodge special primary school 
			  Edmund Rice (Christian Brothers)  primary school 
			  Ligoniel primary school 
			  Our Lady of Lourdes primary school 
			  Seaview primary school 
			  St. Therese of Lisieux primary school 
			  St. Vincent de Paul primary school 
			  Star of the Sea Girls' primary school 
			   
			 2004–05 Holy Cross Girls' primary school 
			  Wheatfield primary school 
			  Currie primary school 
			  Holy Family primary school 
			  Ligoniel primary school 
			  Our Lady of Mercy secondary school

School Interface Funding

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he is taking to address financial pressures on schools in interface areas of North Belfast.

Barry Gardiner: My Department and the Belfast education and library board recognise the pressures faced by schools in the interface areas of North Belfast. The support under the Interface Initiative is expected to continue up to the end of the 2006–07 financial year. Additional funds have been allocated under other initiatives in particular the School Improvement Programme. The development of Education Action Zones will also include schools in North Belfast.

Suspended Employees

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many employees have been suspended from work at health trusts in the Province in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: This information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

HEALTH

Ambulance Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what public consultation is required before ambulance services are merged; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Under section 11 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001, national health service bodies are under a duty to consult and involve patients, the public and their representatives in the planning of changes to services and to involve them in decisions affecting the operation of services. Should a proposal to change services represent a substantial development or variation, NHS bodies are under a duty to consult relevant local authority overview and scrutiny committees.

Ambulance Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who made the decision to second a temporary chief executive to run Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Ambulance Trusts.

Rosie Winterton: The decision to explore the possibility of a secondment placement as chief executive was jointly made by the chairs of the Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ambulance trusts and the Chief Executive of Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Strategic health authority.

Ambulance Services

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he has given to (a) Avon, (b) Gloucestershire and (c) Wiltshire Ambulance Trusts with regards to a possible merger.

Rosie Winterton: Departmental officials have met with Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire strategic health authority (SHA), at its request, to discuss how best to ensure that the local review was consistent with the national work on the current review of ambulance service delivery. The SHA has also briefed the Department on the latest position as part of its on-going communications with the Department. Departmental officials meet monthly with the SHA, as they do with other SHAs, to support the SHA on a range of performance and developmental issues.
	General guidance has been issued to the national health service on how trusts can comply with the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2001 to consult with patients, public and local authority overview and scrutiny committees on substantial changes to how services are provided.

Ambulance Services

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of the merger of the county ambulance services in Gloucestershire, Avon and Wiltshire on the Tri-Service facility in Gloucestershire.

Rosie Winterton: No merger has taken place. It is for strategic health authorities, as the local headquarters of the national health service, to oversee service improvements in their local areas because, with their extensive knowledge of the local community, they are best placed to do so.

Dentistry

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people (a) took and (b) passed the International Qualifying Exam which enables dentists from non-EU countries to practise in England in each year from 1997 to 2004.

Rosie Winterton: The number of people passing the statutory examination and its successor, the international qualifying examination, is shown in the tables. The data was supplied by the General Dental Council, which administers the examination.
	
		Statutory examination results
		
			 Number sitting 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Part I 32 52 86 138 18 0 
			 Part II 19 17 35 62 32 5 
			 Number passing Part II 19 12 32 49 15 1 
		
	
	
		International qualifying examination results
		
			 Number sitting 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Part A 97 164 166 341 
			 Part B 107 154 173 365 
			 Part C 60 57 109 297 
			 Number passing Part C 44 39 81 199

Dentistry

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists are employed in (a) Romford, (b) the London borough of Havering, (c) Greater London, (d) Essex and (e) England.

Rosie Winterton: The numbers of dentists employed in the geographical areas requested are shown in the table.
	
		
			 Location Number of dentists as of 31 December 2004 
		
		
			 Romford(24) 77 
			 Havering Primary Care Trust (PCT) 117 
			 Essex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) 613 
			 Greater London(25) 3,583 
			 England 19,810 
		
	
	(24)Romford data—'Romford" is not geographically well defined. This data is drawn from the surgery addresses that contain Romford" as the start of one of their address lines. At 31 December 2004, according to the records on the Dental Practice Board database at 25 January 2005, there were 22 such addresses, with a total number of dentists of 77. Most of the surgeries (17 out 22) were in Havering PCT (5A4). Additionally, two surgeries were in Redbridge PCT (5NA) and three in Barking and Dagenham (5C2).
	(25)Greater London is defined as dentists working in the following SHAs:
	Q04—North West London SHA
	Q05—North Central London SHA
	Q06—North East London SHA
	Q07—South East London SHA
	Q08—South West London SHA

Dermatology

Bruce George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the need for new patient pathways in dermatology; and what action he will take to promote and support their implementation across the NHS.

Stephen Ladyman: While initiatives such as the action on dermatology programme have sought to promote innovation in the design and delivery of services, ultimately responsibility for service improvements rest with primary care trusts, in partnership with strategic health authorities and other key stakeholders, as they are best placed to understand and respond to the needs of their local populations.

Drug Reactions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of in-patients in East Sussex had their hospital stay prolonged by adverse drug reactions in the last 12 months.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 31 January 2005
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

Drug Reactions

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the proportion of hospital admissions caused by adverse drug reactions in East Sussex in the last period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 31 January 2005
	There were 669 admissions for adverse drug reactions to East Sussex Hospitals and East Sussex County Healthcare national health service trusts during 2003–04. This represents 0.8 per cent. of all admissions to these trusts during 2003–04.

Free Health Care (Non-UK Residents)

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what charges for treatment those who are not ordinarily resident in the UK are not expected to meet; which communicable diseases are exempt from treatment charges levied on those who are not ordinarily resident in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Regulation 3 of The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended, provides that no charges can be made for:
	treatment given in an accident and emergency department or in a national health service walk-in centre providing services similar to those of an accident and emergency department;
	treatment for certain infectious diseases listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations;
	treatment provided at, or following referral from, a special clinic for the treatment of sexually transmitted infections, except for HIV/AIDs where it is only the initial diagnostic testing and associated counselling that are exempt from charges;
	compulsory psychiatric treatment;
	family planning services.
	Overseas visitors may also be eligible for free hospital treatment if they meet one of the other exemptions in the Regulations that are based on individual circumstances rather than on the type of treatment received.
	The diseases listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations are:
	Notifiable diseases:
	Cholera
	Food Poisoning
	Plague
	Relapsing Fever
	Smallpox
	Typhus
	Diseases to which public health enactments apply
	Acute encephalitis
	Acute poliomyelitis
	Amoebic dysentery
	Anthrax
	Bacillary dysentery
	Diphtheria
	Leprosy
	Leptospirosis
	Malaria
	Measles
	Meningitis
	Meningococcal septicaemia (without meningitis)
	Mumps
	Ophthalmia neonatorum
	Paratyphoid fever
	Rabies
	Rubella
	Scarlet Fever
	Tetanus
	Tuberculosis
	Typhoid fever
	Viral haemorrhagic fever
	Viral hepatitis—Hepatitis C
	Whooping cough
	Yellow fever
	Others
	Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

GPs

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects of the new general practitioners' contract on general practitioners' earnings.

John Hutton: General practitioner earnings are currently estimated to increase by 8.8 per cent. in the financial year 2003–04, 10.8 per cent. in 2004–05 and 12 per cent. in 2005–06. The figures for 2003–04 and 2004–05 are based on information for Great Britain. The 2005–06 figures are based on information for the whole of the United Kingdom.

Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003

Brian Cotter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the responses to the consultation on draft regulations to allow the NHS to re-coup costs under the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003.

Rosie Winterton: The consultation exercise has only recently ended and we are still analysing the responses. It would therefore be premature to make any announcements on next steps or to make the responses publicly available at this stage. When we have completed our analysis, we will in due course publish a summary of responses in accordance with the provisions of the Government's code of practice on consultations. At that time, we will make the responses themselves available in the Library.

Health Care (Sittingbourne and Sheppey)

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to change the funding allocation for health care in Sittingbourne and Sheppey.

John Hutton: Revenue allocations to cover the period 2003–04 to 2005–06 were announced in December 2002. There will be no changes to the primary care trust allocations for 2003–04 to 2005–06. The next round of allocations for 2006–07 and 2007–08 will be announced shortly.

Hospital Infrastructure

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on (a) building and (b) renovation programmes for hospitals in (i)Romford, (ii) the London borough of Havering, (iii)Greater London, (iv) Essex and (v) England.

Stephen Ladyman: Details of all hospital building schemes with a capital value of £10 million and over within each strategic health authority have been placed in the Library.

Mental Health Social Workers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) headcount and (b) whole time equivalent mental health social workers have been (i)approved to practise and (ii) in employment in the NHS in each of the last eight years.

Stephen Ladyman: While this is not data collected for the Department, according to a survey that was undertaken by the Royal College of Psychiatrist's research unit, there are 4200 approved social workers (ASWs) whole-time equivalent (4500 total) currently trained.
	From 1994 to 1998, the local government employers' organisation survey collected ASW data. This is the only data available.
	
		ASWs in England and Wales (pre devolution)
		
			  ASWs at 30 September Social workers on ASW courses at 30 September 
			  Numbers Percentage of all field social workers Numbers Percentage of all ASWs 
		
		
			 1994 4940 18.3 698 14.1 
			 1995 4678 17.0 665 14.2 
			 1996 4494 16.6 525 11.7 
			 1998 4768 17.1 598 12.5 
		
	
	Source:
	Social and health care workforce group social services workforce analysis, 1998.

Mixed Wards

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many mixed wards there are in (a) Wirral, (b) Merseyside, (c) North West England and (d) England.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The provision of single-sex accommodation is measured as compliance with three objectives set by the Department. These objectives require national health service trusts to provide single-sex sleeping areas, separate bathroom and toilet facilities for men and women and, where appropriate, safe facilities for the mentally ill. The separation of male and female sleeping areas can be achieved in a variety of ways, including combinations of single rooms and single-sex bays.
	Compliance with these objectives is measured at trust level and therefore ward level information is not available.
	All NHS trusts providing services to the people of Wirral are fully compliant with the standards which we have set.
	Nationally, as at December 2003:
	99 per cent. of NHS trusts provide single-sex sleeping accommodation for planned admissions and have robust operational policies in place to protect patients' privacy and dignity.
	99 per cent. of NHS trusts meet the additional criteria set to ensure the safety of patients who are mentally ill.
	97 per cent, of NHS trusts provide properly segregated bathroom and toilet facilities for men and women.
	The small number of NHS trusts which do not yet meet our standards are building new hospitals, the construction of which is well advanced. One such NHS trust is located within the North West of England, in the area overseen by the Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Health Authority. I am informed that the non-compliant area is one temporary ward, which is being used to accommodate patients while the redevelopment works are completed within the main hospital. This temporary accommodation will be taken out of use by May 2005.

MRI Scanning

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of whether an increase in the availability of MRI scans will require an increase in (a) the number of staff in neurology departments and (b) the amount of resources available to neurology departments.

John Hutton: To support the increase in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning we are increasing staff and ensuring that patients can get faster and better access to neurology services.
	Since September 1997, the number of consultants in neurology has increased by 56 per cent., and we are working towards increasing their numbers further by expanding the number of specialist registrar (SpR) opportunities in the specialty. In addition, the number of nurses employed in the national health service has increased by 77,500 since 1997 and there are now around 1,250 general practitioners with special interests providing acute services in clinical specialities, including neurology. The new national MRI mobile scanning units are also adding over 15 per cent., more diagnostic capacity to the NHS and the independent sector will provide additional staff to ease pressure on existing NHS diagnostic teams.
	It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs), in partnership with local providers, to assess the needs of their local community, to commission services and to identify the resources and number of professional staff that they need to deliver those services. The increase in the acquisition of MRI scans is an excellent opportunity to consider different methods of delivery and different skill mix solutions.

NHS Budgets

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when his Department plans to publish allocations for (a) primary care trusts and (b) central budgets for (i)2006–07 and (ii) 2007–08.

John Hutton: The publication date for the 2006–08 revenue and central budget allocations has not yet been finalised. We expect to publish the 2006–08 primary care trust allocations within the next few weeks.

National Health Service

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to announce the functions of the NHS Business Services Authority.

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will announce the functions of the new NHS Business Services Authority; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: An Implementation Framework for Reconfiguring the Department of Health's Arm's Length Bodies", published on 30 November 2004, made it clear that the new body will be the main processing facility responsible for payment, reimbursement, remuneration and reconciliation for national health service patients, employees and other affiliated parties. It will represent a merger of four constituent bodies: the Dental Practice Board, the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service, the NHS Pensions Agency and the Prescription Pricing Authority. It is intended that the new body should be established formally by 1 October 2005 and a transition team is working to this timetable.

National Health Service

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) total budget and (b) administration budget was for each (i) NHS region in each year from 1997 to 2002 and (ii) strategic health authority in each year since they were established.

John Hutton: The information requested has not yet been validated. This process is currently ongoing and the information will be available once the validation process has been completed.

National Health Service

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list (a) documents and (b) communications distributed which received an NHS Gateway reference in 2004.

John Hutton: 1,124 documents or communications received a DH External Gateway number in 2004. A full list of all documents has been placed in the Library.

National Health Service

Graham Allen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses were employed by (i) the Nottingham City Primary Care Trust, (ii) the Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust, (iii) the Queen's Medical Centre NHS Trust and (iv) other bodies (A) on 1 April 2000 and (B) on the latest date for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  2000 2003 
			  Doctors Nurses Doctors Nurses 
		
		
			 Trent Strategic Health Authority (SHA) area 4,380 16,289 4,844 18,922 
			 Nottingham City: Central Primary Care Group (PCG) 51 41 n/a n/a 
			 Nottingham City: North and West PCG 76 57 n/a n/a 
			 Nottingham City: South and East PCG 59 49 n/a — 
			 Nottingham Health Authority 16 — n/a n/a 
			 Nottingham Community Health National Health Service Trust 55 884 n/a n/a 
			 Nottingham Healthcare NHS Trust 114 765 n/a n/a 
			 Nottingham City Primary Care Trust n/a n/a 192 853 
			 Trent SHA n/a n/a 6 n/a 
			 Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust 313 1,508 421 1,770 
			 Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham University NHS Trust 555 1,787 724 2,040 
			 Total specified organisations 1,239 5,091 1,343 4,663 
		
	
	n/a = not applicable.
	Notes:
	All NHS doctors (1) and qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff, including practice nurses employed by unrestricted principals and equivalents (UPEs) (2), in the Trent SHA area and each specified organisation as at 30 September each year.
	1.All doctors includes all practitioners (excluding retainers) and hospital and community health services (HCHS) medical and dental staff. HCHS medical and dental staff excludes medical hospital practitioners and medical clinical assistants, most of whom are also general practitioners working part time in hospitals. All practitioners (excluding retainers) include general medical service (GMS) unrestricted principals, personal medical service (PMS) contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, GP registrars, salaried doctors (para. 52 SFA), PMS other, flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners.
	2.UPEs include GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs and PMS salaried GPs.
	Sources:
	Department of Health non-medical workforce census.
	Department of Health QMS and PMS statistics.
	Department of Health medical and dental workforce census.

National Health Service

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1) how many people are employed by the national health service university;
	(2)  what the ethnic breakdown is of staff at the national health service university.

John Hutton: There are 164 permanent staff currently employed by the national health service university (NHSU) and 186 non permanent staff, giving a total of 350 employees. We do not have details of the ethnic breakdown of all 350 employees at the NHSU. The table shows the breakdown of employees at NHSU who have provided this information.
	
		NHSU ethnicity data
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 African 2 
			 Any other group 1 
			 Any other mixed background 1 
			 Caribbean 5 
			 Indian 1 
			 White British 118 
			 White Irish 2 
			 White Other 19 
			 Pakistani 1 
			 Total 150 
		
	
	Source:
	NHSU, January 2005.

National Health Service

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) total budget and (b) administration budget has been set for the NHS Institute for Learning, Skills and Innovation in each of the next five years.

John Hutton: Work is under way to establish the new national health service Institute for Learning, Skills and Innovation in 2005 and its budget will be set as part of this work and the continuing work on the review of arm's length health bodies.

National Health Service

John Lyons: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to which parts of the UK the NHS staff pension scheme extends.

John Hutton: There are separate pension schemes covering national health service staff in England and Wales; NHS staff in Scotland; and NHS staff in Northern Ireland.

Nursing Homes

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his Department's policy is on the funding of care of the elderly in nursing homes.

Stephen Ladyman: Nursing care in nursing homes has been provided by the national health service, free of charge, since October 2001. In addition, the Government provide significant levels of funding for social services departments. Over the last three years, the Government have provided for an average of three per cent. growth in real terms in spending on social services. Local councils have the freedom to use these resources to provide services for older people in care homes, taking account of local circumstances and priorities.

Paddington Hospital

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects to make a decision on the proposal for the building of the Paddington Health Campus.

John Hutton: holding answer 31 January 2005
	The outline business case for the Paddington Health Campus is currently being considered by the Department. I expect a decision will be made shortly.

Paddington Hospital

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the revenue available to support the revised Paddington Health Campus project to take account of the gap in revenue highlighted in the NAO/Department of Health report on the previous outline business case.

John Hutton: holding answer 31 January 2005
	No revenue has been made available to support the Paddington Health Campus project, and neither has an estimate been prepared.

Radiography

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the cost of training a (a) radiographer and (b) radiologist (i) in each year of training and (ii) in total; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answer 25 January 2005
	Information for England on the cost of training a pre-registration radiographer and radiologist in each year of training and in total excluding bursaries are shown in the tables.
	
		£
		
			 Staff group 2003–04 annual cost 2003–04 total cost 
		
		
			 Diagnostic radiographer 7,630 22,890 
			 Therapeutic radiographer 7,160 21,480 
		
	
	Source:
	Financial and Workforce Information Return (FWIR) November 2004
	The figures in the table cover tuition costs only for the whole length of the course. In addition radiography students could be entitled to a means tested bursary, which in 2003–04 averaged £3,696 per annum.
	The cost of training a radiologist is the same as that for any hospital doctor. In the period between entry to medical school and full registration it is estimated that training a doctor costs between £200,000 and £250,000. After full registration, a doctor goes on to specialise, for example as a radiologist. The duration of post-registration training varies greatly and as service and training costs are closely related it is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the total cost of training.
	In the years up to full registration, the costs are as follows:
	
		
			 Year Cost (£) Components 
		
		
			 1 5,923 Higher education cost at pre-clinical rate 
			 2 5,923 Higher education cost at pre-clinical rate 
			 3 58,000 Higher education cost at clinical rate plus  NHS clinical placement costs 
			 4 58,000 Higher education cost at clinical rate plus  NHS clinical placement costs 
			 5 58,000 Higher education cost at clinical rate plus  NHS clinical placement costs 
			 6 28,000 Basic salary support for pre-registration  house officer year 
			 Total 213,846 — 
		
	
	Note:
	Costs for years three to five are estimates as the actual cost to the national health service of providing clinical placements for medical undergraduates is not known. The cost in year six is the level at which funding is provided centrally. It does not include various additional costs such as out-of-hours payments, which are met by employing trusts.

Radiography

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what change there has been in the number of training places for (a) radiographers and (b) radiologists since 1997; if he will estimate the cost of the change; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of how many (a) diagnostic radiographers and (b) radiologists are needed to deal with (i) current and (ii) future workloads;
	(3)  what targets his Department have set for recruitment of (a) radiologists and (b) radiographers; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many state registered radiographers there were in (a) 1997 and (b) 2004; how many he expects there to be in each year until 2010; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: holding answers 25 and 27 January 2005
	Between 1997–98 and 2003–04, the number of training places for diagnostic radiographers, therapeutic radiographers and specialist registrars in clinical radiology increased by around 660, 170 and 440 respectively.
	At 2004–05 prices, the cost of the increase for diagnostic radiographers was around £5 million, for therapeutic radiographers the cost was around £1.2 million and for specialist registrars the cost was around £20.6 million.
	The Health Professions Council holds information on the number of state registered radiographers. This information can be found at www.hpc-uk.org.
	It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs), in partnership with local providers, to assess the needs of their local community. PCTs have the resources to commission services as well as to be able to identify the number of professional staff that they need to deliver those services. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision and development of radiography services.
	The expectation is that the number of radiographers and radiologists will continue to increase.

Radiography

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on introducing the roles of assistant practitioner and advanced practitioner in radiology departments since 1997; and if he will estimate the cost of these changes.

John Hutton: holding answer 25 January 2005
	The introduction of assistant practitioners and advanced practitioners in radiology departments is one of a range of initiatives that are contributing to an increase in workforce capacity. This is being supported by a national radiography recruitment and retention project, which is encouraging the expansion through the use of innovative skill mix and career escalator models. £3.4 million has been made available to support this.
	It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs), in partnership with local providers, to assess the needs of their local community. PCTs have the resources to commission services, and to identify the number of professional staff that they need to deliver those services. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community including the provision and development of radiography services. Data on advanced practitioners is not collected centrally. However data for assistant practitioners will be available from the September 2005 workforce census. The overall radiography headcount has increased by 13,300 or 13 per cent. since 1997.

Rural Areas (Health Professionals)

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to (a) recruit and (b) retain the services of health professionals in rural and remote areas.

John Hutton: It is the responsibility of primary care trusts (PCTs) to assess and make provision for the healthcare needs of their local communities. PCTs have the resources to commission services and identify the number of professional staff that they need to deliver those services. The flexibilities provided by the new general medical services (QMS) and alternative provider medical services (APMS) contracts will assist PCTs in securing local workforce capacity. In addition, the Department is working closely with those PCTs who have been identified as having specific problems in general practitioner and other health professional recruitment. This work will be disseminated to share good practice across all PCTs, strategic health authorities and deaneries. NHS Employers", the new employers organisation for the national health service, will provide advice and support to local NHS organisations still experiencing recruitment difficulties.
	A range of recruitment and retention initiatives are in place to help expand the NHS workforce across England. These include improving pay and conditions, encouraging the NHS to become a better, more flexible and diverse employer, help with accessing child care, increasing training, attracting back returners and running national and international recruitment campaigns. As a result of these measures, between September 1997 and March 2004, the total number of qualified nurses employed in the NHS has increased by 77,500. The primary care workforce has also expanded. Between September 1997 and September 2003, the number of GPs (excluding retainers) employed by the NHS has increased by 3,169, or 11.3 per cent., and the primary care nursing workforce has increased by 18,884, or 24.4 per cent.

Secure Units

David Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities for the siting of medium secure units for the treatment of people with dangerous and severe personality disorders; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: There has been no national guidance issued to local authorities for the siting of medium secure units for the treatment of people with dangerous and severe personality disorder. Any business case for such a unit should be dealt with locally and would be subject to local planning permission, scrutiny by local authority scrutiny committees and oversight and agreement by the local strategic health authority as with any other business case.
	There is guidance advising on aspects of the physical infrastructure of a medium secure unit. This guidance can be accessed by registering on the knowledge and information portal at http://www.nhsestates.gov.uk.